


This Beautiful Thing Called Life

by OneMoreNight1996



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Bughead being supportive, Drama, F/M, FP Jones being a good dad, Fluff, Protective Jughead Jones, Teen Pregnancy, Veronica Lodge being the best godmother, baby bughead - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-19
Updated: 2019-05-01
Packaged: 2019-11-24 04:00:16
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 20
Words: 32,717
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18161192
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OneMoreNight1996/pseuds/OneMoreNight1996
Summary: Betty finds herself in the same position as her mother all those years ago, with a different FP Jones. It seemed like history had a way of repeating itself but this story would go a little differently than the one that came before it.





	1. Chapter 1

Betty found herself in the school bathrooms during lunch holding a piece of plastic in her hand that would tell her the answer to one of the most important questions in her life. She found herself wondering if this is what her mother felt like all those years ago. She was sitting in the same high school, in the same bathroom with the same question running through her head. Waiting for the results was like agony,she wanted to know the answer but at the same time she wanted to throw the test away and never look at it. She knew that wasn't an option and she couldn't just ignore it so she waited. Finally the alarm she had set on her phone went off, it felt like she had been sitting there for hours but in reality it had only been a few minutes. She took a deep breath and looked down at the test in her hand. Two lines. She was staring at it in shock when she heard someone come in.

"B, are you in here?" Veronica's voice echoed in the room and Betty quickly shoved the test into the front of her backpack and opened the door to join Veronica. She noticed the girl looking at her as she washed her hands."You were late to lunch, I thought i'd make sure you hadn't buried yourself in studying and forgotten to eat again."

"I was coming to lunch V, just had to stop in here first." Betty smiled at her. Veronica slung an arm around her and pulled her into the hall and toward the cafeteria. When they sat at the table with Archie and Jughead, Betty did her best to seem casual and calm, as if her entire world hadn't just imploded. She was carrying around a secret that was so big she wasn't sure how to act, especially when the secret involved another person at the table quite intimately. Veronica and Archie didn't seem to notice her quite and reserved responses but Jughead glanced at her in concern. She gave him a smile smile to reassure him that she was okay but he kept an eye on her during the whole lunch period. She was almost glad she didn't share any afternoon classes with Jughead because he was one of the most observant people she knew and he also knew her almost to well. She wasn't ready to the words to anyone yet and she knew if he studied her for to long he'd be able to tell she was hiding something.

She went through the rest of her day in a haze and walked home alone. Jughead had gone to attend a Serpent meeting and Veronica and Archie had gone to do whatever they did when they were alone. She was kind of thankful for the reprieve to gather her thoughts before she had to tell Jughead about the situation. As she got home she breathed a sigh of relief and pushed the door open, her mom was sitting on the couch reading a book and the house smelled like cookies. Betty started up the stairs but was called back by her mother. She turned and moved to sit on the couch next to her. Alice Cooper had become strangely talkative ever since she kicked her husband out of the house and Betty found it very inconvenient at times but she wasn't going to just ignore her after they had made so much progress in their relationship.

"So how was school?" She asked and Betty had to force herself not to roll her eyes.

"It was fine mom." She said. "I actually have a lot of homework, so if you don't mind I'm just going to go to my room to work on it."

"That's fine sweetie, I just wanted to check in and make sure you were okay. We didn't check in with Polly that much and she got herself into a mess." She said. Betty refrained from pointing out that she was being a bit pf a hypocrite but she just wanted to keep the peace. She knew that her mother was trying to be better but any small thing was likely to set her off.

"I'm fine mom." Betty said. She got up from the couch and turned to walk away when her mother spoke again.

"Are you honestly not going to tell me Elizabeth?" She asked and Betty looked at her in confusion.

"Tell you what mom?" She asked.

"I was at the store earlier today and ran into Hermione Lodge. She informed me that she had seen you at the pharmacy last night right before closing and you seemed to be looking at pregnancy tests. She said she wouldn't say anything but I imagine by tomorrow it'll be all over town, so you want to tell me what's going on?" She asked. Betty stared at her speechless for a moment, she had gone to the store right before it closed so that no one she knew would see her buying the test. She hadn't even noticed anyone else in the store but apparently she wasn't observant enough.

"I...." She began the sentence but had no idea where she wanted to go with it, Part of her wanted to deny it but she knew her mother would never believe her.

"You know what we went through with Polly, how could you do this Elizabeth. The whole town is going to think we can't control our children, they'll be saying that teen pregnancy must be in the Cooper family genetics." She said and Betty rolled her eyes.

"Seriously, you're worried about what everyone's going to think? It's none of their business." Betty said. She hated the small town gossip that her mother seemed to feed on. "Are you afraid they're going to stop listening to all the crap you spew because they have something to use against you? This town is toxic, everyone is just waiting for something to latch onto that will help them put down one another. Well you know what I don't care what the have to say, let them gossip about it, let them say it must be genetic, I'm not going to let them shame me into silence."

"I thought you were smarter than this Betty." She said in exasperation.

"So are you saying that anyone who gets pregnant in high school is stupid, because you were one of them." Betty said.

"I made a mistake, this is different." She stated.

"Oh I know it's different, I'm in a relationship and you just got knocked up by someone you occasionally slept with. You don't have moral high ground here." She said. Her mother was standing with her hands on her waist and was glaring at Betty.

"I thought you and Jughead were at least using protection." She said. Betty rolled her eyes and scoffed.

"Of course we were using protection, we're not idiots. Sometimes accidents happen mom." Betty sighed. "What are you going to do? Are you going to send me away like you did Polly?"

"Why would you say that Elizabeth?" She asked.

"Because I know you mom, you sent Polly away because you didn't want to look at her 'mistake' because it reminded you of yourself. You like to control everything in your life and you couldn't control her anymore. It's why she left in the first place, she didn't want to raise her children around you and dad." Betty was aware that they were shouting at each other but couldn't bring herself to care that the neighbors were probably wondering what was happening.

"I sent Polly away because I didn't want her around Jason Blossom, not because of the babies." She said.

"Right and you were just going to force her to give her babies away even though that wasn't what she wanted. You gave your baby away even though you didn't want to and it still hurts you but you were going to force Polly to do the same just because you didn't like her choice of partner." Betty threw her hands up in frustration. "It's not a big leap to think you would do the same to me. I know you don't like Jughead."

"You're being stupid Elizabeth. I'm not going to send you away, but we do need to work on damage control. I don't want everyone to think that my children are slutty." She said calmly.

Betty balled her fist up and could feel her skin break under her nails. "So now you're calling me a slut, when I've only slept with one person ever?"

Betty grabbed her backpack off the floor and spun toward the stairs. "I'm not staying in this house while you insult me. I'm going to stay with Jug for a while."

"You can't just leave Elizabeth, you are not eighteen you can't just decide to move in with your boyfriend." She stated following behind Betty as she made her way to her room to throw some things into a bag to take with her.

"What are you going to do, call the sheriff? Do you really want to make that big of a scene mom? I know how much you value others opinions of our family." Betty said snarkily.

Her mother stood in her doorway watching as she threw clothes in the dufflebag and crossed her arms. "You're being a little dramatic."

Betty ignored her as she slung the hag over her shoulder and walked back down the stairs and to the front door she had entered not to long ago. She grabbed the spare keys from the table and opened the door before her mother grabbed her arm and Betty swung around to face her.

"You're not honestly going to leave are you?" She said studying her face. Betty pulled her arm away. and adjusted the bag before speaking.

"Yeah mom, I am." She turned to walk away before she stopped and glanced back. "You know this obsession you have with other people's opinions is going to ruin your life, it already pushed Polly and dad away, and now me. You're going to end up alone if you don't get some help, because honestly I think you need to figure out why it matters to you. What went so wrong in your life that you are so focused on being perfect? It's okay to have flaws mom."

With that Betty walked away from her mother and the house on elm street. She made her way to Jughead's trailer quickly, she knew he was probably still at the meeting with the serpents but she went in anyway and was surprised to see FP sitting at the table. He looked over and noticed the bag she was carrying but didn't comment on it. He motioned for her to sit next to him and she came over. He silently handed her a grilled cheese sandwich from the plate in front of him and she gave him a small smile as she took it. They ate in silence for a minute before he shifted to look at her.

"Jug won't be back for a while." He said and glanced at the bag she had sat on the floor. "You're always welcome here Betty, but you want to tell me what's going on?"

"I just need a place to stay for a while. My mom's being crazy and I can't just stay in that house and pretend like everything's okay, when it's not." She sucked in a breath and FP put a hand on her shoulder.

"Are you okay?" He asked gently. She felt the tears building behind her eyes as she looked at him.

"I feel like my entire life is imploding, and I can't stop it. I never meant fro this to happen." She said as the tears started flowing she felt FP move next to her before his arms wrapped around her. She was sobbing into his shirt and he just rubbed her back until she was able to calm down. He moved away from her and looked in to her eyes.

"Whatever is going on Betty, I know you can handle it. You can stay here for as long as you need." He said and Betty nodded. He smiled at her. "Besides you're practically family."

* * *

They we sat in front of the TV when Jughead came home. He looked confused to see them there together but he didn't comment on it. Betty looked over at him and smiled.

"Hey Betts, what are you doing here?" He asked glancing between the two of them.   


"She's going to be staying her for a while." FP said casually. Jughead looked confused for a moment before he looked at her with concern.

"Are you okay? Did something happen?" He asked. Betty got up and came over to him.

"I'll explain everything." She said and took his hand to lead him back outside. "We need to talk."

He followed behind her until she was satisfied they were far enough away that they wouldn't be overheard. She turned to him and she could see he was trying to figure out what was going o and she put her hand on his face.

"I need you to hear me out, and not interrupt." She said and he nodded. She took a deep breath and started. "Okay my mom and I got into a big fight when I got home today so I packed a bag and came here. The reason we got into a fight is because Hermione Lodge saw me at the pharmacy last night." She saw that he wanted to interrupt and ask questions but she shook her head and he closed his mouth without saying anything. "The reason I was at the pharmacy is because you and I are in a little bit of trouble."

"What are you talking about Betty?" He asked. She shushed him.

"I said no interruptions." She looked up at him. "I was late and I went to the pharmacy to get a pregnancy test."

She saw his eyes go wide and he stepped away from her. He looked her up and down as if looking for any change and she waited for him to speak. He seemed to be trying to formulate a response before he moved closer again and put his hand on her stomach. He looked up and met her eyes.

"You're pregnant?" He asked in a serious voice. She nodded and looked down at his hand resting right over the life growing inside her.

"I didn't mean for this to happen Jug. What are we going to do?" She said in a small voice. His hands came up to cradle her face.

"This isn't your fault Betty. We'll figure it out together." He looked into her eyes. "Whatever you decide, I'm with you one hundred percent."

They stood in that position for a long time just supporting each other and processing the monumental change in their lives. It was amazing that something so small could change so many things in such a short amount of time. Betty knew the fact that she was pregnant would get around very quickly and when they went back to school she expected everyone to be looking but she knew that if she had him by her side that they could deal with whatever crap people decided to throw around.

 


	2. Chapter 2

The first thing they did after Betty told Jughead about the baby was inform FP. I wasn't something that Betty thought they could hide very long while also living in the same house. He had taken it surprisingly well and had been supportive of them, even allowing them to take the bedroom while he slept on the pull out in the living room. Betty had also gotten a text from Veronica letting her know that Mrs. Lodge had not kept her word about not saying anything. As they got ready for school that day she almost wanted to skip, knowing that as soon as they got there all eyes would be on them. Jughead pulled her over to him and wrapped his arms around her.

"I can feel you thinking from over here." He kissed the top of her head and moved back to look into her eyes. "It's going to be okay, whatever happens we'll deal with it together."

She kissed him lightly and he smiled. They grabbed their bags and made their way out to the truck, where FP was waiting to give them a ride to school. He smiled at both of them as they climbed in. Betty was staring out the window as they drove and listening to the soft music playing through the speakers. She was attempting to calm her mind before they went through the gauntlet that the high school gossip mill was sure to have produced. FP pulled into the parking lot before she had really calmed down but before they could get out he cleared his throat and looked at them.

"I want you two to remember that no one can make you feel bad about yourselves if you don't let them." He looked between the two of them and studied each of them in turn. "You have nothing to be ashamed about, this could have happened to any one of them. It isn't your fault."

Betty leaned over and hugged him, which he returned with a smile. They finally climbed out of the car and made their way to the front doors, where she stopped and took a deep breath. She turned to look at him and he held out his hand. She slid hers into it and sighed.

"Are you ready for this?" She asked. He nodded at her and with that they pushed the doors open. It wasn't the reaction that she expected as in no one seemed to be paying attention to them at all. She looked at Jughead who shrugged and looked around in confusion. They made it all the way to her locker without anyone taking a second glance, and Betty was confused. She was sure that everyone would know by now but they didn't seem concerned with her at all. When she was finished putting her books into her bag she started looking for Veronica and found her in the student lounge. As soon as she saw her them enter she made a beeline for them and dragged them back out into the hall.

"How are you? Any morning sickness?" She asked and Betty looked around to see if anyone was listening.

"V, I thought you said your mom let the cat out of the bag." Betty sighed. "Not to sound conceded but I thought people would care more."

"When I said that I meant that she told me. She didn't make a town wide announcement B." Veronica explained. "You're little bundle of joy is still under wraps."

"You could have told us that sooner, we've been freaking out all weekend!" Jughead exclaimed.

"Sorry." Veronica looked contrite. "I didn't mean to worry you. I didn't think about how it would sound when I said it."

"It's okay V, at least we have a little time to have this just to ourselves. I don't know if I'm ready for everyone to know just yet." Betty said quietly.

"Right I get that. You know I'm not going to tell anyone, not even Archie." Veronica said. Betty hugged her.

They all went back into the lounge to sit with Archie, who started a conversation without even questioning why Veronica pulled them out before. Betty was happy for his simplicity sometimes. She knew he trusted them enough to tell him if something was really wrong so he didn't even question when they'd all go off together without him. She felt bad making Veronica keep things from Archie, but she didn't want to tell him about the situation just yet. She had her first appointment with the doctor after school and a part of her was still unconvinced that there was an actual baby so she didn't want to talk about it too much before it was confirmed by a doctor.

It wasn't long before the bell signalling that it was time for first period rang. They all rose from the couch and went their separate ways. Betty couldn't focus on anything throughout the whole class so when it ended and Cheryl was standing in front of her she didn't really register it for a few moments. She looked up at the girl in front of her in question.

"Betty, I need you at cheer practice early today. We have to work on your seriously tragic dance moves." She said and Betty rolled her eyes and stood up from the desk to make her way to second period with Vheryl trailing behind her.

"I can't today Cheryl, I have an appointment after school." She said as they were walking. Cheryl paused for a moment and had to catch up to her.

"An appointment for what?" She asked curiously. Betty turned to face her in the doorway of her classroom.

"I have a check up. I missed the last appointment and the school says I need one if i'm going to compete in sports, including cheerleading." She said. Cheryl rolled her eyes.

"You're supposed to get them beofre you start, have you lost brain cells?" She asked and Betty huffed.

"I told you I missed the last one." Betty looked at her watch then up at Cheryl. "Aren't you going to be late?"

Cheryl glared at her then spun around and stomped in the opposite direction. Betty turned and entered the classroom she was standing in front of and sat at the very back. She usually sat near the front but she knew that she wasn't going to be very attentive toady so she didn't want to get called on. If she was in the back she could blend in and maybe direct the attention away from herself..The rest of the day Betty tried her best to go unnoticed and lost in thoughts. By the end of the day she was exhausted and hadn't even done anything. She was standing by her locker and shoving books into it when Jughead appeared beside her. He leaned on the lockers next to hers as he waited for her to finish.

He took her hand and lead her outside where FP was again waiting for them. He had agreed to take her to her appointment and she was grateful he was so supportive because her mother was not helping at this point. Betty hoped her mother would take her words seriously and see someone to talk about her problems but she wasn't going to hold her breath in hope that her mother would change. FP drove to the clinic in town and they all got out to go inside, and she signed herself in. She noticed FP put his hand on Jughead's shoulder in a comforting gesture and smiled. She moved to sit and Jughead took her hand in both of his and laid a gentle kiss on it. They sat silently waiting to be called and Betty was glad that there weren't many people here and none that she really recognized. There were only three people besides them one couple and an older woman and based on how they were dressed Betty guessed they were from the southside meaning they probably recognized FP but that didn't bother Betty much. In the time she had been dating Jughead she had learned that people on the southside weren't as judgemental as the people she had grown up with.

Soon they were the only ones in the waiting room and Betty was anxious to be called. She had started bouncing her legs and she itched to get up and pace but Jughead was rubbing soothing circles on her back and she couldn't bring herself to pull away from him. He was her one comfort in this whole thing and she was greatful he was with her. She glanced up when her name was called and they followed the nurse down the hall. She put them in a room and took Betty's vitals then informed them the doctor would be in shortly. She meant that literally as the doctor came in just two minutes after that and smiled at them.

"Okay Elizabeth, I understand that you're here for your first prenatal appointment." She said and smiled at her. Betty saw no judgement in her eyes which eased her mind.

"Um, I prefer Betty, and yes that's what we're her for." She said. The doctor glanced at FP and Jughead.

"And who's here with you today?" She asked. Jughead stepped closer to her as he spoke.

"I'm Betty's boyfriend, Jughead Jones," He said and motioned to FP. "And that's my dad."

She shook hands with both of them before she turned back to Betty. "Now I have a few questions for you."

"Ask away." Betty said.

"Alright first question, is this your first pregnancy?" She asked. Betty nodded and she wrote it down in the notes. From there the questions kept coming, 'do you smoke', 'do you do drugs', and a whole list of others before they finally ended with when her last cycle was. Finally she moved on to more questions but this time it was about family history on both sides which thankfully weren't all aimed at Betty. At the end of the lengthey process she sat down her notes and studied each of them in turn before she looked over at Betty.

"Okay, now that we have all of that out of the way, I know that you are early on in the pregnancy and I want to ask you if you have considered your options yet, because the further you get in to this pregnancy the narrower your options get." She said in a serious tone.

"I don't want to get an abortion." Betty said equally as serious. "We'll discuss the other options together, but I know I don't want that."

"Alright. Well in that case, we need to do an ultrasound." She turned to FP. "This early in the pregnancy we have to do an ultrasound using a wand, so you might want to step out for this."

FP stood and kissed Betty on the forehead. "I'll wait outside for you guys."

As he left the doctor handed Betty a sheet to put over herself and closed the curtain so she could undress. It was awkward at first to have someone she had just met that close to her intimate bits but she soon put that out of her mind when the fuzzy screen lit up. The doctor moved around a moment before she stoped and pointed to a small bean shaped blob in the corner of the screen.

"That's your baby." She said and Betty felt the tears run down her cheeks. Jughead leaned over with an astonished expression on his face.

"Wow, it's real." He said. Betty laughed lightly.

"It really is." She said and he kissed her. The doctor smiled at them as she took a few shots of the baby and printed it out for them. Betty took the photos and thanked her. She reminded them to set up the next appointment at the front desk and they left the office. FP was sitting in the waiting room and she handed him the pictures, which he looked at with a smile. He glanced back up at them as he gave the photos back.

"What do you say we go to POP's and get some milkshakes?" He said.


	3. Chapter 3

The next morning Betty regretted even getting out of bed because she had been sat beside the toilet since she woke up intermittently throwing up. She had already shooed Jughead away three times but he insisted on being there for her so he was sitting next to her but she thought it might finally have passed. She wasn't ready to stand and test that theory just yet but she didn't feel like she was about to throw up again so that was a good sign. She knew that by this point they were definitely late for school but FP hadn't said anything about it. She was grateful that he took her in and was supportive of both of them during this pregnancy, she knew he was disappointed because he had wanted Jughead to get out of this town and he hadn't wanted this life for either of them but he never tried to influence them in any decision about the pregnancy. He told them that whatever they decided had to be just them because they were ultimately going to be the ones who had to deal with it.

She finally decided to get off the floor and Jughead helped her up and steadied her when she was on her feet. She turned to the sink to rinse her mouth out and Brush her teeth and he stood next to her to do the same. When they were done they joined FP in the kitchen where Betty grabbed a piece of toast and Jughead got a bowl of cereal. They ate quickly seeing as they were already late and FP gave the keys to Jughead, they both looked at him and he shrugged.

"You two need the truck more than me right now and I have my bike, it's not a problem." He said.

"Thank you Mr. Jones." Betty said and hugged him.

"You know you don't have to keep calling me that Betty, we're family now." He said with a smile and she nodded. She and Jughead walked out and got in the truck, which he drove to school. There was no one in the halls and she new they were super late but had to still be in first period so she kissed him goodbye and they went their separate ways. She tried to be as quiet as possible as she slipped into the room, she didn't want to interfere with the lesson and she was hoping the teacher wouldn't make a big deal of her being late. The problem with this plan is that the class was small given that they lived in a small town so when she stepped into the room everyone noticed. She saw Veronica give her a look and she shrugged slightly.

The teacher turned when she came in but just motioned to her seat and Betty was thankful she was such a good student before this because her teacher must have assumed she had a good reason for being late. She took her seat next to Veronica and saw Cheryl looking at her from the other side of the room but she didn't acknowledge her because she didn't want questions. She got out her books quietly and started taking notes, it was a long class because she could feel Cheryl's eyes on her and Veronica seemed to be bursting to ask questions but Betty tried very hard to block them out and focus on the board. By the end of class she was ready to explode but once again Cheryl stopped in front of her desk and it took everything in her not to roll her eyes.

"What do you want now Cheryl?" She asked, already annoyed.

"Why were you late today?" She asked and Betty sighed and walked away from her but she knew she wasn't getting off that easy. Cheryl grabbed her arm and spun her around to face her. "I'm only curios Betty."

"Leave her alone Cheryl." Veronica said next to her. Betty shook her head.

"It's fine V." She then looked at Cheryl. "Not that it's any of your business but we overslept this morning and were running a bit behind."

"We?" She asked.

"Like I said none of your business." Betty said.

"You spent all night with the hobo? Scandalous Betty!" She exclaimed and Betty rolled her eyes.

"I happen to not actually care about your opinion Cheryl, I know it's shocking to you but I have better things to do and better people to talk to so you'll have to forgive me for not standing her and explaining my entire life to you." Betty said. She turned and walked away leaving Cheryl there and Veronica followed her.

She was beyond annoyed at this point and almost wished she had decided to stay home today but she wasn't going to let her pregnancy affect her education. She had always taken pride in her schooling and she wasn't about to change that but she was getting tired of Cheryl already and she didn't even know about the pregnancy yet. Betty knew when she found out that she'd be insufferable and she wasn't looking forward to it but Cheryl was also technically family so she sort of had to deal with her. 

Veronica joined her in their second class of the day but pulled her to the back and Betty knew she wanted to talk to her. She sat down next to her and waited until the teacher turned to the board to begin the lesson before she looked at her.

"What?" She whispered. Veronica laid her hand against Betty stomach for a moment before moving it back to her side of the desk.

"Why were you really late this morning? Is everything okay with you?" She asked.

"It's fine, I was just sick this morning. We went to the doctor yesterday, I'll show you later." Betty said glancing to make sure the teacher wasn't looking at them. Veronica nodded with a smile before she got a serious look in her eye.

"I think you should tell Archie. He's the only one who doesn't know and he's your best friend. It would be better if her heard it from you and not through gossip, you know Cheryl going to tell everyone you're spending nights with Jughead, it won't be that big of a leap for them to speculate about this." She said and Betty nodded.

"I'll talk to him after school." she said and Veronica nodded.

They spent the rest of the class actually taking notes and paying attention. Betty went through the rest of the day working on her school work to make up for her lack of attention the day before. The four of them met up in the student lounge at the end of the day and decided to go to pop's together. It was a tight fit in the truck which resulted in Betty being squished up against Jughead and Veronica in Archie's lap but hey made it to the diner in relatively good spirits.

They all ordered and as they waited for it to be brought to the table they talked about school and Archie's football game on Friday as well as his music which Veronica was helping with and they were having a good time just hanging out with each other but Veronica kept looking at her and she sighed and gave her a look. She didn't want to ruin the mood but she knew he needed to know and the sooner she said it the better it would be for everyone. She cleared her throat interruping the conversation that Jughead and Archie were having. She rook Jughead's hand under the table and blew out a breath.

"Archie, there's something we need to talk about." She stated and Jughead looked at her with wide eyes.

"Now?" He asked.

"Yeah, he needs to know Jug. He's our friend, it doesn't feel right to keep it from him." She said and he nodded as they both turned to look at Archie. His eyes flicked between them and he sat up to look at them seriously.

"What's going on guys? Is everything alright?" He asked.

"We're fine it's just we have something to tell you and I don't want you to freak out okay?" Betty said.

"Okay?" He said it like a question but Betty nodded and Jughead squeezed her hand under the table.

"Alright, I'm just going to come out and say it.....I'm pregnant." She said. Archie seemed to freeze for a moment as he studied both of them to see if they were serious.

"Wow." He sounded stunned for a moment. "You two are not the ones I'd expect this news from honestly. I thought it would be me and Veronica."

"Archie!" Veronica exclaimed.

"What? We have a lot of sex!" He said then seemed to realize the words he'd just spoken and turned a bright red to match his hair. Betty couldn't stop herself from laughing and Jughead joined her. Veronica glared at them which made her laugh even harder. Soon they were all laughing even Archie, once they calmed down Betty reached into her bag and brought out the ultrasound she had done and handed it over to Veronica who studied it under the table with Archie glancing at it. He looked up at them. "It seems like such a small thing to be a baby."

"I know right, I couldn't believe it." Jughead said.

They spent the rest of the afternoon drinking milkshakes and just spending time with each other. None of them knew at that moment but the next day everyone would know or at least be speculating about that little blob in the corner of a black and white ultrasound, thanks to Cheryl Blossom and her inability to keep anything to herself.


	4. Chapter 4

They were sitting in their usual spot in the student lounge and Betty had stopped listening to Archie and Jughead ten minutes ago when they had started debating which video game had the bast graphics and when she caught Veronica rolling her eyes she had to stiffle her giggles. Veronica looked at her and motioned to the boys with her head before she let out a fake yawn. It caused Archie to glance at her and Betty before he went back to the conversation. Betty leaned back into Jughead and he just wrapped an arm around her without pausing in his speech and she sighed loudly to get his attention and Veronica snorted when he immediately stopped talking to look down at her.

"You okay?" He asked. She smiled up at him.

"Fine, just bored." She said. He glared at her playfully.

"You don't like our conversation?" He asked and she shook her head with a grin. He laughed and leaned down to kiss her lightly.

"You two are gross." Veronica commented from her perch on Archie's lap. Betty gave her a look and motioned to her and Archie as if to say they were the same. Truthfully Archie and Veronica were worse which they both knew. They called a silent truce before Betty saw Cheryl come into the room and her eyes fell straight on them. She resisted the urge to groan and heard Veronica mutter: "For the love of God."

Betty watched as Cheryl made her way over to them and she noticed that she had a satisfied look on her face which worried Betty because she so didn't want to deal with whatever she was about to say. She sat up slightly and turned to face her as she stopped in front of them.

"Can I help you Cheryl?" She knew the other girl heard the annoyance in her voice but it just made her smile more.

"I heard through the grapevine that you and Jughead are living in sin, in that trailer of his." She said with a grin and Betty rolled her eyes.

"Really Cheryl, living in sin? It's not the 1950's." She said. Cheryl studied them and sighed.

"You're not going to deny it?" She asked.

"Nope." Jughead chimed in beside her. Cheryl huffed as she glared at them.

"Why are you living together then?" She snapped.

"Why do you care?" Betty asked and Cheryl rolled her eyes.

"Have the perfect Coopers finally fallen apart?" She snapped in a mean voice. Betty clenched her fist and stood up.

"My life is really none of your business Cheryl. My family is none of your business." She glared at her. "Yes I live with Jughead, but that has nothing to do with you so why are you trying insert yourself into it?" 

"We are family after all cousin, I was just concerned about you." She said simply and Betty scoffed.

"Right because you actually care." She glanced around at everyone. "You just wanted to be the first person who knew so you could spread it around."

"I'm curious about something cousin." Cheryl had a look in her eye that Betty didn't like. "You two are so young, I wonder why you'd move in together so soon, is it maybe because you were irresponsible? Do you got a bun in the oven?"

Jughead reacted before she had the chance to respond. He was suddenly on his feet next to her and glaring at Cheryl. "That's none of your damn business Cheryl! Fuck off."

"Oh My God, you do." Her eyes were wide and she looked stunned like she hadn't expected to be right when she said it. Betty felt Veronica grab her arm lightly and she pulled her out of the room.

Veronica didn't stop until she had gotten them outside and Betty leaned against the side of the building. She was aware that her breathing was coming in quick pants but she couldn't stop it. Veronica grabbed her face and forced her to match her breathing and she slowly slide down the wall to sit on the ground. Veronica joined her even though it would get her dress dirty and they just sat in silence until the door the had exited through was flung open again. Betty glanced up and saw Jughead with Archie trailing behind him, they moved to join them by the wall and they all sat there together taking the strength offered and giving comfort back. Betty was glad to have them in her life, none of them judged her just sat in the silence with her to offer support.

Everyone knew now and there was no escaping it but at least she had them by her side as she finally stood and squared her shoulders before she went back inside. She was not going to allow them to make her feel ashamed so she held her head high as they walked down the hall. She brushed off the stares and whispers because this had nothing to do with them and she wasn't going to let them make her feel as if she was wrong. They hadn't planned it but she wasn't going to apologize for it to anyone and especially not to judgy people who meant nothing to her. She had the support of her friends and her boyfriend and she didn't need the negativity from people who didn't even know her.

Jughead gave her a hug before he left her to go to his own class and Archie and Veronica flanked her on both sides as she walked to her class. Archie left them at the door to the class and continued on to his further down the hall. Veronica took her hand and they entered the room, a few people looked at her but quickly averted there eyes when Veronica glared at them. Betty took her spot next to Kevin and he gave her a small smile. She knew he had to have heard by now but he showed no judgement and she was glad, because Kevin had always been a good friend to her. She was happy that that hadn't seemed to change even though they hadn't spent a lot of time together recently.

By the end of the day she was sick of people looking at her and she wanted to just turn around and yell boo, she bet at least one person would jump and she rolled her eyes. She shoved her books into her locker before she closed it in anger. The resounding bang brought even more attention to her and she sighed before she spun and continued down the hall. She met with Veronica at the end of the hall and they walked out to the football feild where Archie and Jughead were. Archie actually had practice but Jughead was sat on the bleachers with his laptop out, typing on it. Veronica sat a few seats down from him and watched Archie on the feild while Betty sat next to him. He took her hand absently as he closed the laptop and sat it next to him on the bench. He turned to face her and brought her hand up to is lips.

"Are you okay? Today was kind of intense." He said and she leaned her head on his shoulder.

"I'm fine actually, just annoyed. I hate having people stare at me like i'm a walking science experiment." She grumbled. He laughed lightly.

"They'll get over it in a few days and find something else to talk about." He said and she blew out a breath and looked at him.

"It's not that big of a town Juggie. I'm betting it'll take at least a few weeks for something more interesting to catch their attention." She said and he shrugged while giving her a nod.

"Perhaps you're right, but we can handle it." He said gently and she kissed him lightly.

"Together I think we could handle anything." She said. He looked her in the eyes.

"You and me." He said seriously. She nodded at him.

"You and me. Always,"


	5. Chapter 5

Jughead had been right about people only talking about it for a few days. Betty figured being the second Cooper to have a teen pregnancy scandal wasn't as interesting when it wasn't accompanied by a murder investigation, as Polly's had been. They still got a few looks when they walked down the halls together but no one said anything to them. Veronica, who was more tapped into the gossip circulating school said they weren't even in most conversations anymore. It seemed like everyone believed that it was inevitable so therefore not really much to talk about. Betty for one was glad for the disinterest because it made it much easier to focus in class when she wasn't trying to dodge glances. She was at the moment in the school bathroom rinsing her mouth because morning sickness was no joke, and she wanted to punch whoever invented the term 'morning' sickness in the face, it had probably been a man anyway. She had been throwing up at all hours of the day but it mainly hit her at lunch which is what lead her to be standing in front of the bathroom mirror at this very moment, one whiff of the schools pizza and she was dashing for the nearest bathroom. She had already sent Veronica back out to the cafeteria, assuring her she'd be fine.

Betty looked up as the door opened and caught sight of Cheryl coming into the room. She rolled her eyes as she fixed her ponytail and straightened her cloths before she turned to leave the room. Cheryl was still looking at her from her spot by the door and moved to keep Betty from leaving. She sighed loudly and crossed her arms while glaring at Cheryl.

"What do you want Cheryl?" She snapped. Cheryl shifted on her feet and looked at the floor.

"I wanted to apologize. You were right, it wasn't my business but I kept pushing. I didn't mean to blurt out your secret to the whole school, as much as I seem like a bitch I wouldn't have done that if I'd known. I didn't think you were actually pregnant but that didn't give me the right to say that." Cheryl said quietly. Betty studied her face but saw no trace of dishonesty.

"That's uncharacteristically nice of you." Betty said cautiously. "What are you getting out of this?"

"Nothing. I just wanted to apologize because we're family Betty." She glanced up at her. "And family isn't something I have a lot of left."

"Word of advice, if you want to be family or even just friends, you might want to start being nicer and not just to me." Betty said. Cheryl nodded before stepping to the side so that Betty could leave. As she walked out of the bathroom she looked over her shoulder at the other girl. "Thank you for apologizing Cheryl, it goes a long way in building a relationship." 

She left Cheryl to think about what she had said. She made her way back to the cafeteria to sit with her friends but she didn't eat anything for fear of it coming up again. After eating they all went back to class and Betty told Veronica what had happened with Cheryl and she shared Betty's skepticism. It would be a good thing if Cheryl was serious about it but Betty wasn't sure if she could trust her at all. She had helped with Polly but she still didn't treat her very well when she had been living in Thornhill and only really cared about the babies she was carrying. Betty hoped she was actually trying to be a better person bur resolved to keep her at arms length until she did something to prove she was actually trying.

It was a long day at school so when they got home Betty changed into pajamas before sitting on the couch next to Jughead and pulling out her homework. They sat quietly together as they worked and Hotdog laid across her feet on the ground. It was comfortable between them as if she had lived her for a lot longer than the few days she had actually stayed here, it felt normal to be here in this trailer with these people as if it's where she was always meant to be. She hadn't put much stock in the idea of soulmates until she met him, but now she believed wholeheartedly. The fantasies she had when she was younger about growing up and becoming Mrs. Andrews seemed silly in comparison to the feelings she got around Jughead even before they were dating, and she thought maybe it had something was just part of growing up.

When FP came home from his shift at Pop's he joined them on the couch and flipped on the TV. Betty was distracted for a moment before she forced herself to refocus on the work in front of her as she was almost finished with it and didn't want to leave it for later in case she forgot to finish it. Jughead put his things away next to her seeing as he had less work than she did and she pushed through and managed to finish hers twenty minutes later. As she moved to put everything back in her bag, she accidentally dislodged Hotdog and he gave a huff as he went to lay next FP. She gave him an apologetic pat on the head when she stood to take her bag into their bedroom and sit it on a chair in the corner. When she came back out to sit with them FP cleared his throat causing both of them to look at him.

"I talked to Pop Tate today and he said he could use a couple of people on some shifts if you wanted. After school and weekends, it's not much but you're gonna need some money, babies cost a lot." He said.

"Thanks dad, we'll come by tomorrow after school and talk to him." Jughead said next to her.

"It really was good of you to ask him for us." Betty asked.

"Well I know how hard it can be to raise a kid, especially in this part of town. Thought you could use a helping hand." He said before going back to the TV. she knew the Jones men had a tendency to bottle up their emotions and not express them through physical contact a lot and especially not with each other but she still leaned over to hug him and give him a kiss on the cheek before she went to their room leaving him obviously flustered by the gesture.

She slipped under the covers on their bed and flipped off the light. It was still very early in the night but the pregnancy was already taking a toll and she was tired. She didn't expect Jughead to join her until later so she was surprised when she heard him come into the room and close the door behind him. She listened as he got ready for bed and slipped under the covers behind her. The bed moved as he scooted closer to her before his arm came around her and he rested his hand low on her stomach, she put her hand over his as he cradled the place their baby was slowly growing. Neither of them spoke for a long moment, just enjoying each others company before he broke the silence.

"If it's a girl, we should name her Juliet." He said softly and she hummed quietly.

"Why Juliet?" She asked.

"Remember the first time I kissed you?" He asked and she smiled in the darkness.

"You called me Juliet." She answered.

"You and me, people always say we're like Romeo and Juliet, but I don't think our story is quite as tragic as that." He moved her hair back with his other hand and laid a gentle kiss against her temple. "Naming our daughter Juliet would almost be like telling the town that we aren't going to fit ourselves into the narrative they've written for us. That we're not going to break and that our story isn't going to end in tragedy, that our Juliet is different than the story they've built up around us."

She turned to face him and brought her hand up to his face and said softly: "I love the name Juliet."

"If it's a boy we're not going anywhere near the name Forsythe. It's considered child abuse." He warned. She grinned at him.

"We could always call him Romeo." She said.

"Anythings better than Forsythe." He stated. 

They ended the night with giggles and kisses and Betty found herself thinking that fate and soulmates was maybe a little more real than she had ever thought because they seemed to fit together perfectly and everything in their relationship slotted together so easily it was hard to believe that at one time she had looked at him and saw only Archie's best friend, when all the while he held the other part of her soul inside of him.


	6. Chapter 6

The next day Betty stepped into Pop's with Jughead and Pop Tate smiled at them and invited them behind the counter and led them back to a small office behind the kitchen. They joined him as he rummaged through a box on the table and handed each of them a uniform. He turned to the desk and grabbed name tags with their names already on them and Betty looked at the items before meeting his eyes.

"Aren't you going to interview us?" She asked. Pop smiled at her and put a hand on her shoulder.

"I've known both of you since before you could even walk Miss Cooper, I know you'll do me proud." He said.

"Thank you Pop, we really appreciate it." Jughead said. He nodded and glanced down at her stomach.

"I hear the two of you have got a precious little gift to provide for and I'm happy to help in anyway I can." He said causing Betty to blush and unconsciously rub her stomach. She wasn't showing yet but she could feel the change starting and she knew it wouldn't be long before she had a little bump.

"Did you want us to start today?" She asked.

"You can if you want or you can start tomorrow, whatever's better for you." He said 

"No time like the present. We'll go change and get started." Jughead said.

Betty followed him to the lobby and they went to opposite bathrooms to change. Betty changed into the yellow dress quickly and stuffed her clothes into her backpack before she straightened out her ponytail in the mirror and made sure her name tag was on properly before she came back out. She put her bag behind the counter just as Jughead came out of the bathroom, and she grinned at him. He looked adorable in the white uniform with his bow tie and she wanted to laugh at the grumpy look on his face. He gave her a look when he saw the amusement on her face and she just shrugged and went to find Pop with him trailing behind.

Pop showed them where everything was and how to use them before he allowed them to begin working. He gave one side of the diner to Betty and the other to Jughead while he stayed in the kitchen. It was after school so there were quite a few people around so they got started. It wasn't a hard job to take orders and relay them to Pop or to bring them out but dealing with peoples complaints was rather annoying. She had had to explain to a woman that she had ordered the chili fries herself after she had complained about how many calories were in it and insisted she take some of the cheese off. Betty had complied but when she brought it back she had complained that there wasn't enough this time and she insisted she should get a refund. Pop had smoothed it over with a free milkshake while Betty was ready to throw the woman and her chili fries through the window.

When the diner quietened down after the rush Betty sat with Jughead at the counter doing their homework. Each time the bell would ring to admit new customers they would glance up and take turns grabbing the orders. It was more peaceful than she expected to sit here and work. Pop had brought each of them a milkshake and she was sipping on hers as she read the chapter they'd been given in class. Jughead seemed to be taking notes from his text books when the bell dinged so she hopped out of her seat and made her way over to the table that was occupied, which happened to have Cheryl in it. She glanced at her companions and almost rolled her eyes at them. It was her two little mini mes and Betty didn't want to deal with them but she put a smile on her face and took out her order pad.

"What can I get you guys?" She asked politely. Cheryl looked up at her.

"You work here?" She asked.

"Obviously." Betty stated.

"Yeah how else is she going to pay for that bastard baby?" Ginger snarked. Betty opened her mouth to say something but Cheryl beat her to it.

"Shut the hell up Ginger! It's none of your damn business." She said and Betty stared at her in shock but her friends had their mouths hanging open as they looked at her. Ginger seemed to recover slightly when she rolled her eyes.

"You're defending her? She's the one who got knocked up by a piece of southside scum." she said and Cheryl slammed her hand on the table.

"You must remember Ginger, that's my cousin you're talking about. If I ever hear you say something like that about her or Jughead again, I will end you. Remember I have can make your social status plummet so low not even Dilton Doiley will want to be friends with you." Cheryl said. There was complete silence for a long moment as Cheryl stared at her almost begging for her to say something.

"Jesus fine!" She exclaimed before sinking back into the booth and Betty stood there awkwardly until they seemed to remember she was there. Cheryl turned to her and glanced at the pad of paper in her hands.

"I'll just have a strawberry milkshake and an order of fries cousin." She said and Betty nodded as she wrote it down and turned to the others who both mumbled their order without really looking at her and she ran the paper back to Pop before rejoining Jughead at the counter while he got everything ready. Jughead glanced at her and looked over at Cheryl's table.

"You okay? That was a little intense." He said quietly. She sighed and took his hand.

"You heard that?" She asked quietly. He gave her a small smile as he gently kissed her hand.

"The diner isn't that big and it's almost empty." He answered.

"I'm sorry about what she said." She told him as their eyes met.

"I don't care what she thinks of me Betts. She doesn't matter." He said and she smiled and leaned over to kiss him softly. He pulled back and raised an eyebrow. "What's up with Cheryl, by the way?"

"I don't know. She spoke to me yesterday about us being family and her not having a lot of that, but I didn't think she would do something like that. I mean it's not like she's ever liked either of us that much." She said. He glanced over at her with a shrug.

"Maybe she's lonely." He said. Betty sighed.

"Maybe." She said just as the bell signaling their order was ready went off. She got up and gathered the orders to drop off at the table. As she was setting things down she noticed there was still a tension around the table but she wasn't going to involve herself anymore than she already had.

She rejoined Jughead at the counter and went back to her work without looking back at that table. She thought maybe Jughead was right and Cheryl was lonely, she had lost her brother and father and from what she heard from Veronica her mother was no walk in the park. She seemed to surround herself with fake people and Betty wondered if she even really had a friend, or if all she had were people who wanted to leech off her popularity. It made her feel sad thinking that the girl had no one she could turn to when she needed a listening ear or an hand to hold, and she couldn't imagine how truly desperate she would be in Cheryl's position. She wanted to help but at the same time didn't know if she could trust her. She watched as she left with her friends and started to think maybe she could let her in just a little, not enough to do any real damage should it go wrong but just enough to make her feel like she wasn't alone. She was right after all, they were family.


	7. Chapter 7

The weeks passed quickly in a flurry of school and work, that Betty almost didn't notice the growing bump until she climbed out of the shower that morning. She had been standing in front of the mirror for a long time just twisting her body to look at the gentle rounding of her once flat stomach, inevitable proof of the life growing inside of her. She smiled softly as she got dressed and joined FP and Jughead in the kitchen. They had become comfortable with the living situation in the weeks she had been in the trailer and it was almost like she had been there since the beginning. Her mother hadn't reached out since she left home but FP gave her the support she craved and he quickly adapted to extending the parental role to her as well as Jughead and she was grateful for him in their lives, since he seemed to be the only parent that actually wanted to acknowledge the baby. Her father had cut all ties with her when she told him and had called her horrible things while also insulting Polly, so she was glad they at least weren't alone in this.

She sat at the table and Jughead slid a plate of eggs and toast over to her without a word and they ate in companionable silence, the only sounds in the room were chewing and the sound of the newspaper in FP's hands rustling as he turned the pages. Soon he was folding the paper and putting his dishes in the sink before he made his way over to drop a kiss on the top of her head as he moved toward the door. He pulled his jacket on as he opened the door, it looked strange over his Pops uniform but he didn't seem to mind.

"Have a good day at school." He said before walking out and pulling the door closed behind him. Betty heard his motorcycle start up and pull away and she turned to see Jughead studying her.

"It's strange to see him like that after all these years. Sober, I mean, but I do worry he's going to go off the deep end again. He's the only real support we have and I don't want to lose that." He said softly. She put her hand over his.

"Does it make you happy though? Seeing him sober?" She asked.

"Yeah, it's good." He answered and she gave him a smile.

"Then that's what you should focus on. He's doing well, going to his meetings, keeping a job. Focus on the good things, stop worrying about what ifs." She said quietly. He smiled back at her.

"I guess you're right." He said, but she could still hear the hesitation in his voice so she stood and pulled him up with her. He looked down at her with a little furrow between his eyes and she smiled up at him as she spke.

"You want to see something cool?" She asked as she smoothed out the flowy top covering her body and pulled him hand over to rest on the prominent bump. She saw his eyes widen as he brought his other hand over to join the one already placed against her. He spread his hands across her stomach caressing each side as he looked into her eyes.

"Wow." He said the word softly, with reverence and she smiled as he leaned down to kiss her softly. "We're having a baby."

"Isn't it amazing?" She said as she pulled him in for a hug. "I'm glad that you're here with me Jug, through all of this. I can't imagine what it's like for girls who don't have that support, girls like Polly."

He held her close and they breathed each other in for a long moment. "I can't imagine being anywhere else Betty."

She pulled away from him. "We should get going before we're late." 

The each grabbed their bags and made their way to the truck and as Jughead started driving Betty found her mind wondering to Polly and she wandered how she was feeling. It had obviously been revealed that Jason and Polly were cousins but before that she had loved him enough to defy their parents by getting engaged. That kind of love doesn't just disappear overnight and she was carrying his children, two small pieces of him that could grow to resemble him and remind her of him and their love everyday. Betty wondered if Polly was scared, if she was hoping for them to not take after their father, or if she wanted then to be like him so that some part of him could live on. She wondered if Polly still loved him.

Betty rested her hand against her stomach as wondered if Polly even knew about her baby, if she was ever going to come home with her own children. She wanted to meet Polly's children and she wanted Polly to meet her child but she wasn't sure if that was ever going to happen and she found herself missing her sister. Polly had been the only person in their family that didn't treat Betty as if she was broken and she though maybe it was because she had gone through the same things, their mother's need for perfection and their father's casual acceptance of the insanity. She wondered if her parents knew the affect they had on their psyches or if they didn't even think about the word they said to them. She resolved to reach out to Polly, if only to let her know about the baby.

She was brought out of her thoughts by Jughead gently shaking her. She glanced over at him and saw the concerned look on his face making her realize she had been staring blankly out the window and hadn't even noticed the truck had stopped. She gave him a soft smile and nod to let him know she was fine as they got out of the truck and walked into the school. When they got to the lounge Archie and Veronica were sitting on the couch talking to Kevin and strangely Cheryl. Betty sat in the armchair next to them and Jughead sat on the arm and she noticed him glancing at Cheryl out of the corner of his eye as he greeted them. Veronica sat forward and pulled a box out of her bag and handed it to Betty. It was wrapped with a bow and she gave Veronica a look.

"What's this?" She asked. Veronica smiled and gave her a little shrug.

"A gift for my godchild." She held up her hands as they both opened their mouths to speak at the same time. "I don't want to hear it, it's a small gift. You can accept it."

"We appreciate the gesture Veronica but we can buy things for the baby on our own." Jughead said quietly and Betty rested her hand on his knee as Veronica rolled her eyes.

"I know that, but I wanted to get something too. You're going to have to get used to gifts Jughead, it's something people do when other people are expecting, no one's trying to hurt your pride." She said.

"It's lovely V, thank you." Betty spoke before Jughead could while also giving them both a look telling them to play nice.

"Well open it." Cheryl said. Betty nodded and pulled the bow off before unwrapping the box. Inside was a plain square cardboard box and Betty pulled the top open to reveal paper wrapped around something. She lifted it out of the box and unraveled the paper, inside sat a onesie. It was mostly white but had writing on the front in a soft yellow color, which said 'Like Romeo and Juliet....', Betty smiled down at it before thanking Veronica.

"I had it specially printed because you tow are Riverdale's very own Romeo and Juliet, but with a happier ending." Veronica said and Betty met Jughead's eyes and she knew they were thinking of the smae thing in that moment and the words came back to her, strangely similar to Veronica's own. Like Romeo and Juliet, except we live happily ever after. They smiled at each other and she took his hand as they met each others eyes.

"You two have a way of making everyone feel left out of the conversation, even when you're not speaking." Kevin said snapping them out of it and bringing them back into the group. Betty gave him an apologetic face.

"Sorry Kev." She said and he gave her a small smile as he shook his head.

"I'm not saying it's a bad thing Betty, I'm just amazed two people can love each other as much as you do. Your connection with each other is something I hope to find with someone one day." He said. 

Jughead smiled down at her with a soft look on his face. "He's not wrong about how much I love you."

She smiled and pulled him down for a kiss. She had never loved someone the way she loved him and she couldn't imagine life without him and she thought, yeah the connection they had was something enviable and desirable. It was something she never though she would have but was forever grateful to have found the one person she was meant to be with so early in their lives. It meant the had so much more time together.


	8. Chapter 8

Everyone was at a pep rally which left Betty and Jughead sitting in Pop's with only a few customers. Betty was reading a book while Jughead was typing on his computer next to her, Pop's had brought them each a milkshake with a basket of fries earlier and Betty was subconsciously snacking on them as she got caught up in the story she was reading. The bell rang above the door signaling someone entering the diner and both of them flicked their eyes toward the door at the same moment. Betty sat her book down on the counter and stood as she took in the person who had just entered.

"Polly." Her voice came out soft and astonished. Polly gave a small smile as she stepped closer to the counter and Betty's eyes dropped to the stroller in front of her.

"Hey Betty, I got your letter." She said quietly. Betty moved from behind the counter quickly and pulled Polly into a hug. Polly pulled back after a moment and her hand went to Betty's belly before she gave her a small smile as she looked at her.

"Do you want to sit?" Betty asked motioning to the booths. Polly glanced around and looked at her uniform.

"You're not busy?" She asked and Jughead spoke from where he was still sitting at the counter.

"I can handle it for a while if you want to talk, we're not that busy right now." He said and Betty gave him a smile of thanks as she lead Polly to the corner booth and slid in as Polly parked the stroller next to the table. Betty looked into it and saw two babies sleeping soundly and smiled at Polly.

"You had the babies I see." She said and Polly nodded before Betty continued speaking. "You didn't call."

"I wanted too Betty, but you know how mom is. I just wanted a little while with them before she told me everything I was doing wrong." Polly said and Betty blew out a breath.

"She's not that bad Polly, and she's still your mom." Betty said looking down at the table.

"Right, and I suppose you living with Jughead has nothing to do with her." Polly said and Betty bit her lip before reaching over to take Polly's hand over the table.

"I don't want to fight Polly, I just wanted to know how you were and tell you about my baby." Betty said and Polly sighed but gave her a nod.

"You're right Betty, this is about us so tell me....how are you feeling? Is the baby okay?" She asked and Betty smiled.

"The baby's fine. It's a little overwhelming you know, the thought of this little thing that is counting on me to support it and take care of it, but Jughead has been really good about it and even FP has helped." She said and Polly smiled.

"I'm glad you have support Betty. When I look down at my babies, I wish Jason could see them and be here, he would have loved them so much." She said. Betty could hear the sadness in her voice and she squeezed her hand.

"I can't imagine what losing him was like Polly, but you know you still have support here." She said softly and Polly looked up at her. "You have me, and I think Cheryl would love help with them as well."

"Since when do you talk to Cheryl?" She asked.

"She's actually been really nice, especially about the baby. She lost a lot when Jason died and she's still hurting too." Betty looked over at the babies. "We're your family Polly, if you'll let us be."

Polly was quite as she studied her children before speaking. "Okay."

"Okay?" Betty asked. Polly turned to meet her eyes.

"You are family Betty, and so is Cheryl. When I look at the twins, I see so much of Jason in them and you're right, Cheryl deserves to know them and so do you." She said softly and Betty smiled.

"I am so sorry about Jason. I know it can't be easy to raise them on your own." Betty said softly. Polly studied her before her eyes strayed behind her to Jughead.

"It still hurts to think about him but having them makes it easier. I'm glad that your experience is different than mine Betty, you deserve a happy ending and I'm glad you're getting it." She said.

"You deserve a happy ending too, Polly." Betty said and Polly smiled at her.

"I have my children, they're my happy ending Betty." She said.

"You may fall in love again one day." Betty told her.

"Maybe, but for now I'm happy with just having them, and even if I do fall in love again it won't be the same. I had my one great love story." She said and Betty sighed.

"That makes me sad Polly, the thought of your one great love story ending so suddenly." She said and Polly laughed softly.

"It's okay Betty, looking back if I had known what was going to happen I'd still do it, because I got to spend that small amount of time with him. Don't shed tears for my story, especially when you're still writing your own." Polly said. Betty looked over her shoulder at Jughead who gave her a smile before looking at Polly.

"So your okay?" She asked.

"I'm okay." She said before she scooted to the end of the booth. "Now enough with the heavy stuff, do you want to meet them?"

Betty nodded as she slid to the end of her booth as well. Polly lifted one of the babies out of the stroller and Betty knew it was a boy based on the blue knitted sweater he was wearing. Polly laid the baby in her arms before turning to get the other one, a girl. Betty looked down at the baby in her arms with a smile, bouncing him slightly as he made a small noise. She ran her finger against his cheek feeling the soft skin as he slept. She heard movement and glanced up to see Jughead at the edge of the table and knew Polly must have waved him over because she was soon laying the other baby into his surprised arms. He quickly adjusted his stance as he began to rock her and Betty smiled. Polly was smiling softly at both of them as she watched them with her babies.

"What are their names?" Jughead asked.

"Juniper and Dagwood." She said.

"Oh my God." It came out before Betty could stop it and Polly gave her a look. "Sorry, they're lovely names Polly."

"Right." She said with a small grin. Betty gave her an apologetic look and was about to say something else when the door to the dinner opened and Cheryl stepped in with the cheerleading squad behind her. Betty knew this meant the pep rally had ended and they were about to get swamped with people but she stayed by Polly's side when Cheryl stopped suddenly as her eyes caught the babies in their arms. She seemed frozen to the spot and the shock on her face spoke volumes. No one spoke for a long moment as Polly and Cheryl stared at each other for a long moment before Polly's eyes flicked over to Betty who gave her a small nod. She stepped forward, closer to Cheryl before speaking. "Cheryl, would you like to meet them?"

Cheryl looked at both of them and looked as if she wanted to bolt from the diner and Betty walked over to her, still rooted to the same spot and laid the baby gently in her arms before putting a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"It's okay Cheryl." She said softly. Cheryl looked down at the baby with tears in her eyes.

"This is Jay Jay's baby." She said softly looking up at Betty who gave her a gentle smile.

"That's right." She pulled her gently over to the booth and made her sit. Jughead crouched next to her with the other baby and she studied both of them before looking up at Polly. "They look like him."

"I know." Polly said softly. "We lost Jason, but he lives on in them and I'm hoping you'll want to be a part of their lives."

"I want that more than anything." She said. Jughead moved to place the second baby into Polly's arms before moving to take orders and Betty gave both of them soft smiles.

"I've got to get to work, do you guys need anything?" She asked. They both shook their heads so she left them to talk as she started working her tables.

They stayed in that booth as the people moved around them, coming and going until the diner was as it had began, with only a few late night patrons. Betty sat on the stool behind the counter and was rubbing her aching feet when Jughead came from delivering an order. He rested his hands on her shoulders as he looked at Polly and Cheryl.

"Are you okay?" She looked up at him.

"Why wouldn't I be?" She asked. He motioned to the both containing a portion of her family.

"They've been talking a long time. I just thought you might feel a little left out, is all." He said pressing a kiss to the top of her head. She laid her hand over his on her shoulder.

"I'm okay honestly. I do want to be a part of their lives and everything but Cheryl and Polly have more to talk about right now. I knew Jason, it's a small town we all knew him, but his loss didn't hit me as hard as it did them. They understand each others pain in a way that I can't, and that's okay. I'm glad they have each other to talk to about it, I don't feel left out, it's not really about me." She said and he nodded.

"Alright then, are you ready to go home?" He asked. She grinned up at him.

"Definitely, the bed is calling my name." She said and he gave her a soft smile as they gathered their things. The third shift workers came in as they were clocking out and Betty stopped by Polly's table as they were leaving. "We're going now Polly, but we can talk tomorrow."

"Okay Betty." She said as she looked at them. "Get some rest. I'll call you tomorrow and let you know when we can meet up."

"I'm glad you're here Polly." Betty said and Polly smiled as she stood to hug her.

"Me too Betty." She said. Betty turned to Cheryl who looked like she had been crying.

"Maybe you can spend time with us tomorrow too Cheryl." She said softly and Cheryl gave her a small smile.

"I'd love that." She said.


	9. Chapter 9

The next day found Betty at the mall with Polly, Cheryl and Veronica. It was strange having Cheryl there since they had never been that close but since she found out about the baby she had been nice and friendly, and Betty had decided she liked having Cheryl around when she wasn't putting on a front of being a mean girl. She had been right weeks ago when she said neither of them had a lot of family left and she was happy to welcome her into hers. They had unsurprisingly ended up at a baby store and Polly was buying outfits for the twins as Betty looked around. She realized that they probably needed to start buying things for the baby she was carrying because it would only be a few short months before it was born. Her next appointment was to reveal the gender but for now she was wondering around the store with a basket that she had added a few plain gender neutral onesies to as well as some burp cloths and a fuzzy grey blanket she couldn't refuse when she saw it.

Veronica appeared at her side suddenly holding up a frilly pink dress and Betty gave her a look. "We don't know if it's a girl or boy yet V."

"Fine." She said with a pout then her face lit up again. "I'll just get one for Juniper, she'll look darling in it."

"Okay V, if you say so." Betty said with a soft smile and Veronica grinned.

"I'll even get a little suit for Dagwood." She said in excitement and Betty laughed.

"Are we having a photo shoot now?" She asked and Veronica shrugged.

"Maybe." She said before bouncing away again. Betty thought she was more excited being in this store than any of them, as she had exclaimed about the tiny shoes the moment they walked in and hadn't stopped running around since.

She moved across the store to join Polly and Cheryl who were currently looking at baby hats and trying them on the less than pleased twins. She grinned at them when Juniper seemed to glare when Cheryl sat a sun hat on her head. Polly shot her a look which only caused the grin to escalate into laughter.

"I'm trying to put together a cute summer outfit and they refuse the hats!" She exclaimed. 

"Hopefully they'll have a better fashion sense when they're older." Cheryl said.

"You two are hilarious." Betty giggled. Polly turned to her and pointedly looked at her stomach.

"Believe me when that one comes out you'll be trying to put it in cute outfits too and I'm going to be the one laughing when they refuse." She said and Betty tried to maintain a serious face but a grin pushed through.

"Sure Pol." She said.

Veronica rejoined them and seemed to have found a onesie she was happy with that also happened to be gender neutral for Betty. It was white sleeper with little yellow ducks on it and it was an easy zip up one and she also still had the dress but now had a small suit along with it. Polly raised an eyebrow but didn't comment on her choices as they continued browsing the store. They were talking and laughing together so they didn't notice the woman in front of them until she cleared her throat. Polly politely moved the stroller over and they moved so she could get through the aisle but she didn't move and seemed to be studying them.

Betty noticed the woman's eyes land on her rounded stomach before she moved on the look at Veronica and Cheryl who both happened to be holding items they planned to purchase until her eyes made the trip back to the stroller in front of Polly and she shook her head as she studied each of their faces in turn. 

"Such a shame." She commented.

"Excuse me?" Betty asked.

"Well you're all such beautiful girls, now your lives a ruined. I mean are you even out of high school?" She asked. Polly blew out a breath and Betty saw Cheryl roll her eyes.

"That's not really any of your business lady." Cheryl said. The woman looked offended that Cheryl had commented on her behavior.

"Well, what was this some kind of pregnancy pact? Thought it would be cute to have babies together." She snapped and Veronica huffed.

"I think you watch to much TV." She said.

"And by the way We're not pregnant." Cheryl said motioning to herself an Veronica. "But we are here to support our friends, and I'd like it if you kindly fucked off and left us alone."

"Cheryl!" Betty exclaimed and she just shrugged.

"You are a very rude young lady." The woman said.

"I'm a teenager, I'm allowed to be rude. What's your excuse?" She said. The woman stormed away muttering what Betty suspected was very unflattering language and Cheryl turned back to them. "Is everyone done shopping?"

They all nodded as she spun and led them to the register. Each of them paid for their items before leaving the store and Cheryl lead them straight to the food court where they ordered food before sitting down and Polly fed the fussing twins before digging into her own food. Everyone was quite absorbing the conversation that had just happened until Polly sighed and looked at Betty.

"I'm sorry about that, you get used to judgemental people eventually." She said quietly.

"I'm okay Polly." She assured her and Cheryl scoffed.

"Well I say they need to mind their own damn business, it has nothing to do with them." She spat angrily.

"I'm with Cheryl on this one, I wanted to slap that woman." Veronica said. Betty sighed as she picked at her fries.

"It's really not a big deal guys." She said. "I don't care what anyone else thinks about me, I have my friends and family around me, their opinions don't matter to me."

"Well you'll always have us B." Veronica said taking her hand over the table. "And you too Polly."

"We're a family." Cheryl agreed and Polly smiled while Betty thanked them.

They spent the rest of the trip ignoring all the looks from people and just enjoying the company of each other. When Betty got home late that night FP and Jughead were at the kitchen table and she dropped the pizzas she had picked up on the way home onto the table before dropping a kiss on each of their cheeks before taking her shopping bags to the bedroom. By the time she rejoined them in the kitchen there was a plate waiting in her spot ad they were digging in. She smiled at her small family and was even more grateful to have them than she ever had been.


	10. Chapter 10

Betty was sitting in the waiting room of the doctor's office once again with Jughead by her side, but this time FP hadn't come along with them. He had told them that he would just wait at home because they were finding out the sex of the baby today and he said it should just be the parents, he was happy to hear from them when they got back. Betty didn't care what they were having, she was just excited to know and she knew Jughead agreed with her. She smiled at him and took his hand as her name was called and she was brought back to a room. 

"Last chance to place your bets." She said and he grinned at her.

"I'm not guessing Betts, what if I'm wrong? Our baby can hear us and will surely be offended." He said jokingly. She rolled her eyes and shoved him lightly as the nurse stepped into the room. She smiled at them as she took Betty's vitals and engaged them in casual conversation about the baby. She left as quickly as she came and Betty laid back on the examine bed and made Jughead sit down so he wouldn't start pacing.

It didn't take long for the doctor to enter the room and she greeted them before she raised up Betty's shirt and started taking measurements of her stomach. After she wrote the measurements down she examined the area with her hands and Betty felt the baby moving as she felt around. She seemed satisfied with what she had seen because she pulled over the portable ultrasound and set it up next to the bed before looking up at them.

"Are you ready to see your baby?" She asked and Betty gave her a big smile as she nodded. Jughead stood and came over to take her hand and they both focused on the screen as the doctor squirted the gel on her stomach and pulled the wand out to press against her. The image was fuzzy at first but as she moved the wand around their baby appeared on the screen and Betty could see the movements of the baby's arms and legs. She felt Jughead squeeze her hand and she looked up at him with a smile. The doctor proceeded to take measurements of the baby's head and limbs. She took shots of each measurement before she finally finished and smiled at them. "Baby seems to be on track and growing as they should be. Now would you like to know the sex?"

"Absolutely." Betty said and she nodded before moving the wand around slightly to get and angle to see. She seemed to study the ultrasound for a long moment before she smiled and looked at them.

"Well it seems you are carrying a beautiful little girl." She said and Jughead leaned over to kiss Betty. She had tears in her eyes and he smiled down at her softly.

"I knew it." He said and she rolled her eyes at him as the tears fell down her face.

"And you wouldn't guess?" She asked. He shrugged and swiped the tears off her face with his thumb.

"I could've been wrong." He said. She laughed slightly as the doctor wiped the gel off her stomach. She stepped away to give them a moment as she entered information into the computer. Betty sat up and pulled her shirt down. She pulled him in for a second kiss as they smiled.

"I'm glad you're here." She said softly. He wrapped his arms around her and dropped a kiss to the top of her head.

"I wouldn't be anywhere else." He said.

The doctor cleared her throat after a moment and they both moved to look at her. She gave them a friendly smile as she handed them the ultrasound pictures and talked to them for a little while longer about the baby and Betty, reassuring them that everything seemed to be going smoothly and telling Betty to take it easy and not strain herself while she was working. They took the advice she gave them and thanked her before setting the next appointment and leaving. 

Betty was quite on the way home because she was looking at the ultrasound pictures but she snapped a picture of the last one that stated they were having a girl and sent it out to Polly, Cheryl, Veronica and Archie in the group chat. She grinned when the responses flooded in almost instantly. Jughead gave her a look from the other side of the truck.

"You know they're not going to shut up about it now right?" He said. She grinned at him.

"They're just excited." She said and he laughed.

"Yeah I know, I honestly think Veronica was more excited than us to find out." He said and Betty nodded. 

Veronica was so eager to buy all the cute clothes for the baby that she was almost vibrating in excitement when Betty told her they were finding out the sex today. She almost had to tie her to a chair to prevent her from tagging along but finally got her to calm down with the promise of letting her know as soon as they got out. Betty loved Veronica but she could be a little intense sometimes and she was glad that she had Archie to distract her sometimes because she had gone full godmother mode from the moment she found out about the baby. Betty had an inkling that Veronica would be the first out of their friend group to have a baby after they graduated, especially given that Betty didn't plan to have another baby for some time and Cheryl was a lesbian so having a baby would take a lot more planning and the same for Kevin.

She wouldn't be surprised if she had a baby straight out of high school because she seemed to have extreme baby fever. Betty was a little wary around her because she wasn't sure if she was excited because of Betty's baby or if she wanted her own and she made note to talk to her privately about it before she did something rash. Betty was brought out of her thoughts when the pulled up to the trailer and she saw her mother's car parked out front. She shared a confused look with Jughead before they got out and cautiously approached the house. When she stepped in she saw FP leaning against the sink looking uncomfortable and her mother seated at the table. She stopped right inside the door and felt Jughead lay a comforting hand on her shoulder as they took in the situation before FP moved toward them. He grabbed Jughead's arm and pulled him back toward the still open door.

"We're going to pick up some food, you two talk." He said as he pulled Jughead out the door. Jughead resisted and met her eyes, silently asking if she wanted him to stay. She gave him a small smile and shook her head in answer. He nodded and closed the door behind him, he knew this was something she needed to confront on her own.

She turned to face her mother at the table and sat her bag on the chair across from her before taking FP's spot against the sink with her arms crossed over her body. They studied each other for a long moment and she saw her mother's eyes catch on her rounded stomach. She cleared her throat and her mother's eyes snapped up to meet hers as she raised an eye brow at her. Her mother seemed to take a moment to steady herself before she turned in her chair to face her.

"Look Betty, I didn't come to fight." She said quietly as she looked down at her hands in her lap.

"What did you come for mom?" She asked. Her mother looked up at her and their eyes met.

"You were right. When you left, you told me I needed to get help before I pushed everyone away. I was angry at first but the more I thought about it, the more I realized that what you said was right, so I started seeing a therapist." She said. Betty studied her face before she sighed and moved to sit at the table and take her mother's hand in hers.

"That's good mom, I'm proud of you." She said softly. Her mom squeezed her hand lightly and smiled at her.

"I'm telling you because my therapist made me realize something. The things I said to you when I found out about the baby, they were horrible and I need to apologize. I never should have spoken to you or about you like that, and I'm so sorry Betty. I hope that you can forgive me." Her voice was breathy due to the tears rolling down her face. Betty moved to wrap her arms around her and she felt her take a deep breath as she returned the hug.

"Of course I forgive you mom." She said. She was crying too by the time she pulled back from the embrace. Her mom took both her hands in hers as she looked at her.

"I want you to come home Betty, I'm better now and I want you with me. You and the baby." She said and Betty pulled back slightly.

"What are you talking about?" She asked.

"I just want you back in the house Betty. It's lonely there right now." She said softly.

"Look I'm glad you're getting help mom, but I can'r come back." She motioned to the trailer. "This is my home now."

Her mom looked around the trailer before she sighed. "Okay, Betty. I get it you're home, but you'll visit right? With the baby?"

'Yeah mom, I'll visit." Betty said before she sighed and took her hands once more. "Maybe you could reach out to Polly as well. She had the twins."

"She did?" She asked quietly. Betty nodded before pulling out her phone and showing her mom the pictures she had taken.

"She's in town right now, It's a good chance for you to make amends." Betty said gently.

"Okay." She said. Betty nodded, satisfied.

"Okay."


	11. Chapter 11

It was near the end of the school day when Betty heard her name over the intercom to come to the Principles office. Veronica and Cheryl both gave her confused looks but she simply gave them a slight shrug as she gathered her things and left the room. It didn't take long to reach the office and she knocked lightly before entering the room and Principle Weatherbee motioned for her to sit. She quickly walked over and sat in the chair placed in front of his desk, placing her bag on the floor by her feet.

"Miss Cooper, I wanted to speak to you about your continuing education." He stated and Betty gave him a confused look.

"What about it?" She asked. He leaned forward with his elbows placed on the desk and his hands clasped in front of his mouth.

"I think that you should consider finishing school from home. We have an extension program for people in your condition." He said. Betty raised an eyebrow.

"My condition?" She asked sarcastically. "You mean my pregnancy, it's okay Mr. Weatherbee it isn't a dirty word."

"Yes, well some of the parents have expressed concern about your continued enrollment at Riverdale High." He stated.

"Concern about what? It's not like I'm out there encouraging girls to get pregnant, I'm just trying to finish high school." She snapped angrily.

"Some parents think that your condition will prompt your classmates to follow your lead." He explained and Betty rolled her eyes.

"You can't be serious, it's not like pregnancy is contagious." She said. He sighed and pulled a drawer open and pulled out a stack of papers and slid them across the desk to her. She picked them up and lokked them over before looking back up at him. He gave her a stern look as he spoke.

"Those papers contain information about the program. I strongly suggest you look them over." He said. She shoved the papers in her backpack angrily before she looked up to glare at him.

"So are you saying I have no choice in the matter?" She asked making sure to keep her voice even as to not betray the fury running through her, but she knew it showed in her eyes because he looked more uncomfortable the longer she stared at him.

"Of course you have a choice." He said but his voice conveyed a different message entirely. She snatched her bag off the floor and stood as quickly as she could with her growing belly. 

"I hope you realize this constitutes as discrimination and don't think I'm just going to go quietly." She said before she spun on her heal and marched out the door making sure to slam it on the way out.

She made her way out to the truck to wait for Jughead to get out of class. It didn't take long before she heard the bell ring inside the school and when Jughead came outside, he approached her cautiously and she suspected the anger was still on her face. He stopped a few feet away from her and she saw him studying her face so she gave him a small smile of reassurance, after all it wasn't him she was angry with. He gave her a concerned look as he stepped closer and reached out to touch her face lightly.

"Are you okay? Did something happen with Weatherbee?" He asked. She wrapped her arms around him and pulled him in for a hug before smiling up at him.

"I'll tell you when we get home." She said softly. "We can pick up Pop's on the way."

"Sounds like a plan." He said before dropping a soft kiss on her lips.

They spent the drive in companionable silence and Jughead ran into Pop's to pick up their order before driving them home. When they stepped into the trailer FP was sitting at the kitchen table reading the paper with a cup of coffee in front of him. Betty started setting out the take out on the table as Jughead pulled out some plates to put the food on. FP put down the paper and helped Betty unwrap the burgers and set them on the plates. They all sat down together and started eating. Jughead and FP started a conversation and she contributed a comment every once in a while. She loved when they could all sit down and have a meal together, she truly appreciated her little family.

She knew the moment they both noticed she wasn't really engaging with the conversation because they quieted down and both of them were throwing her looks as they kept the conversation going as if they were waiting for her to speak. She picked at the rest of her fries and they suddenly went silent, she looked up to see them both looking at her with the same concerned look on their faces. Sometimes it surprised her just how much they looked alike, they definitely had strong genes and she was almost sure her baby was going to look similar to them. FP raised and eyebrow at her, he didn't even need to speak to let her know he wanted to know what she was thinking. She sighed as she looked at them.

"Okay, so I met with Weatherbee today and he wants me to finish school from home, some extension program the have." She explained. 

"Why?" FP asked. She ran her hand over her stomach as she looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

"I'll give you one guess." She said sarcastically. 

"They're kicking you out of school because you're pregnant?" Jughead said and she heard the barely suppressed anger in his voice. "That's bullshit!"

"Did they tell you why? I mean you've been going to school for weeks and people have known about the pregnancy since almost the beginning, why is it suddenly a problem now?" FP asked. Betty rolled her eyes.

"Apparently some of the parents have expressed concern, I'm a bad influence." She said. FP shook his head and she knew he was pissed too but he was much better at hiding his emotions than either her or Jughead.

"Don't worry Betty, I'll have a word with Weatherbee personally." He assured her. Her eyes widened as she watched his face and she was a little worried by what exactly he meant by that statement.

"That's okay Mr. Jones, you don't have to do that. I'll deal with it." She said. Jughead took her hand over the table and shared a look with his father as she watched. 

"We'll deal with it dad." He said. FP raised an eyebrow at both of them with an unimpressed look on his face.

"I'm just going to have a meeting with him, civilly. I'm not planning to kneecap him in a dark alley." His voice portrayed exasperation and Betty pressed her lips together to keep from laughing and he rolled his eyes at both of them. "Honestly, I'm not that dramatic."

Betty couldn't help it anymore and she cracked up at the absolute sarcasm packed into those few words. Jughead wasn't far behind her and FP just rolled his eyes again and stood from his chair to make his way to the sink. They calmed down just as he spun around suddenly and sprayed them with cold water. Betty shrieked and was quick to pull Jughead out of his chair and place him in front of her. FP finally stopped the onslaught because he was laughing to hard to hold the sprayer straight. 

"Dad!" Jughead exclaimed. FP smirked at them through his laughter.

"Next time you'll think twice about laughing at me." He said. Betty grinned from her place still behind Jughead.

"Nah, next time we'll just make sure to do it outside the range of that thing." She said. Jughead snorted as he turned his head to smile at her. FP gave her a look but she could see the smile threatening to break over his face.

"Don't worry, I'll remember then I'll attack when you least expect it." He said. 

The rest of the evening was spent with games and laughter, making Betty forget for a while. But as they laid down for bed she found herself thinking on what Polly had said, that you get used to the looks and the judgement from other people. Betty hadn't even given birth yet and people were already trying to make her life harder and passing judgement on her and Jughead and it made her angry but more than that she felt sad. All she wanted was to graduate high school and people were trying to prevent that. She knew that with the extension she'd still get a diploma like everyone else but it wouldn't be the same, and she wouldn't get to walk the stage with her friends, all because she was having a baby and people disapproved.


	12. Chapter 12

Betty woke early the next morning and got out of the bed taking care not to wake Jughead as she gathered her clothes and moved toward the bathroom. She could hear FP's soft breathing in the living room letting her know that he was also still asleep. She felt a rush of affection for the Jones me and their tendency toward being grumpy in the morning, her being a morning person had been an irritation to Jughead since they first started dating so she had quickly learned to have coffee ready before he woke. She showered quickly and dressed before moving into the kitchen.

She started the coffee pot immediately and began to gather things to make breakfast. She was halfway through making bacon and eggs when FP roused from his spot on the pull-out, he sat up and ran a hand over his face. She gave him a smile as he blinked the sleep out of his eyes and he studied her with a confused look on his face for a minute before he stood and made his way over to her.

"You know you don't have to cook for us Betty." He said. She gave him a small shrug as she flipped the bacon in the pan.

"I don't mind." She answered. "There's coffee."

"Thanks." He said as he grabbed a mug out of the cabinet and filled it. "But really, you don't have to do this. We survived for years on our own, and you should be resting."

"I'm pregnant, not an invalid. It's really okay." She said and pushed him lightly toward the table to sit as she made a plate and sat it in front of him. She heard shuffling in the hallway before Jughead appeared in the kitchen with messy bedhead. She smirked at him as he yawned but she didn't comment on his appearance and instead pushed a mug of coffee into his hands and dropped a quick kiss on his lips before turning back to the stove. She quickly finished breakfast and put two more plates on the table and grabbed herself a glass of orange juice before joining them.

After breakfast she put the plates into the sink to wash for later and Jughead took his turn in the shower as she laid on their bed browsing on the computer. There was still an hour before they had to be at school so she had time do a little online shopping and she ordered a few things for the baby before Jughead came back into the room in only a towel and she got a little distracted staring at him. He smirked at her in the mirror and she rolled her eyes and made a point to get off the bed and walk toward the door. His hand came out lighting quick to wrap around her wrist and pull her in for a quick kiss, her hand landed on his bare chest as she kissed him back. He smiled down at her.

"Now you can go." He said softly. She raised an eyebrow at him.

"Really?" She asked unimpressed. The smirk made a reappearance as he shrugged.

"Or you could stay and watch." His voice was pitched low and she felt her breathing quicken subtly.

"You're dad is in the other room." It came out as a whisper. They stared at each other for a heated moment and she swayed toward him but the sound of the front door being flung open in the other room snapped them out of it and they shared a confused look. "Get dressed, I'll check."

She moved out of the room before he could protest, and moved quickly toward the living room. The sight that greeted her was not at all what she had been expecting. Her mother stood in the middle of the living room in a pristine business suit with her purse clenched in her hands with the patented Alice Cooper look on her face. Betty's eyes snapped to FP but he didn't seem as surprised as her at her mother's sudden appearance and she stared at them for a long moment before she gathered her thoughts enough to speak.

"Mom, what are you doing here?" She asked.

"I called her." He answered stepping up next to her.

"Why?" Betty asked. Her mother looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

"FP informed me of what happened at the school and I'm going to give that man a piece of my mind." She said and Betty's eyes widened as she turned to FP, giving him a look that conveyed the thoughts in her brain screaming 'are you crazy'. She felt Jughead behind her and she realized she had stopped at the end of the hall in shock, thus blocking his way and she moved to the side to allow him into the kitchen. He exchanged a look with her and she shrugged.

"We're going to be late if we don't get going." She said quickly pulling Jughead toward the door. "FP can ride with you, mom."

FP threw her a look from over her mom's shoulder but she just pushed Jughead fully out the door and to the truck. She saw FP and her mom walking out of the house as they were pulling out and she closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths trying to absorb what had just happened. Jughead touched her leg lightly to get her attention and when she looked at him he had concern in his eyes.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

"My mother and your father are going to the school to talk to the principle, this is going to be a disaster." She said. He laughed and she hit him on the arm. "This isn't funny!"

"It kind of is." He said and she rolled her eyes. "I mean honestly, how bad can they be?"

"Have you met our parents?" She asked with a raised eyebrow. He glanced at her and seemed to be thinking before he bit his lip.

 

"Okay, so maybe you have a point."

* * *

They ended up in the principles office along with their parents and Betty would rather be anywhere else, even the Advanced math class she was currently missing. Jughead was leaning on the wall next to her as they watched their parents tear into Principle Weatherbee. 

"You are honestly going to kick her out for being pregnant?" Alice Cooper was truly terrifying with her voice pitched low and carrying anger. "Because if that's what's happening I will happily get my lawyer involved and you will end up without a job."

"Mrs. Cooper, we aren't kicking her out, merely providing another option for her to finish school." Weatherbee said in a calming voice. FP scoffed from beside her mother.

"Betty deserves to finish school here like everyone else." He said. "She hasn't done anything wrong. Just because you disagree with her choices, it doesn't give you a right to disturb her education."

"I understand your concerns but Betty is only a junior, what happens when she has the baby, how is she going to finish school?" Weatherbee said.

"There's this thing called daycare, plenty of people use it." Her mom said sarcastically. "But this isn't really about any of that, you aren't concerned with her education, you're concerned about how it makes the school look. FP told me some of the parents have complained, funny how they are so invested in my daughter's life now that she's pregnant but weren't at all concerned when the football team was keeping a play book of conquests or when Reggie Mantle was dealing drugs right here in the school."

"We have dealt with those situations." He stated. Her mom scoffed.

"Right you suspended the boys who were sexually harassing girls but let them come right back after a few weeks because they  _learned their lesson,_ and Reggie as far as I know has never been punished for his actions, but you're suddenly up in arms about my daughter? Seems a little hypocritical to me. What is it, that old boys will be boys thing?" She snapped. Principle Weatherbee glanced over at them and Betty sighed and moved closer to Jughead, who wrapped his arms around her in comfort.

"I just think it's the best thing in this situation." He said.

"Best for who?" FP asked. "All of her friends are here and if she did the program she would just be stuck at home while everyone else was here all day, you're isolating her when she needs her friends the most." 

"She won't have much time for friends when the baby comes, maybe she should have thought about that before being irresponsible." Weatherbee had true anger in his voice and Betty flinched slightly at the tone. Jughead tightened his grip and pressed his lips to the top of her head.

"Wow, you've got to be kidding me. This is all just your own prejudice, you allow drug dealers and sexual harassment that affects everyone in your school but because she's pregnant she's suddenly a bad influence." Her mom sounded pissed. "You will be hearing from my lawyer, I don't care what it takes, I will make sure that you don't have a job at the end of this. It isn't your job to judge students, it's your job to help them but clearly that isn't something that you do, so you don't deserve this job."

Alice spun on her heal and marched out the door with FP following and he grabbed them on his way past to pull them along. They followed her mother like a line of ducklings, her heals emphasizing her anger with every step she took, the sound of them echoing through the halls. She stopped at the doors to the school and turned to Betty.

"I think you should skip today and join me at Pop's for milkshakes." She said and Betty stared at her with wide eyes. She turned to Jughead. "You should come too, make a day of it." 

"Are you sure mom?" Betty asked. He mother had never let her skip a day of school before, even sending her when she was sick and she was a little surprised by her attitude in that moment.

"Of course Betty, you deserve it after having to listen to that man spewing garbage." She said. Betty and Jughead shared a look and he shrugged before they both turned to look at FP.

"You guys can go, I'll see you at home." He said. Betty saw her mom roll her eyes.

"Nonsense FP, you come too." She said before pushing the door open and striding toward the parking lot. Betty was left staring after her mom in utter astonishment.

"Definitely body snatchers." Betty stated. Jughead shrugged next to her.

"I'm not going to disagree." He said.

They followed her and got in their separate cars to make their way to Pop's. Betty wasn't sure if her mom was just in a weird mood or if the therapy she was getting was actually helping her sort through things but whatever it was she was happy that her mom seemed to be acting like a normal parent for once, but she still had a slight distrust of this new demeanor and she wondered how long it would take for her to stop waiting for the other shoe to drop and everything to go to hell.

 

 


	13. Chapter 13

Betty was studying her mom and FP who were sitting across form them in the booth and she was waiting for one of them to speak but they were both sipping on their milkshakes and seemingly ignoring her looks. Jughead took her hand under the table and she glanced at him, he gave her a soft smile and she smiled back before taking a deep breath and turning back to their parents.

"So mom, FP told me he called you." She said. Her mother glanced up from her food to look at her.

"Yes Betty, that's right." She answered.

"I'm glad you were there but no offence, why?" She asked. FP leaned forward with his elbows on the table.

"I called her because you are underage and technically I have no rights to you, I thought it would be good to have an actual parent there in case Weatherbee tried to make a fuss about you living with us." He said and Betty blew out a breath.

"That makes sense, I guess." She said. Her mother looked at her with a smile.

"In other news, I've spoken to Polly." She said. 

"You have?" Betty asked. Her mom nodded and her smile grew.

"Yeah, and she's agreed to come home. She and the twins are going to stay with me." She said and Betty smiled.

"That's great mom. I'm happy she'll be around to meet the baby." She said as she caressed her growing belly. Her mom glanced down at her stomach before she looked up at both of them.

"Do you have a name yet?" She asked. Betty smiled and nodded as Jughead answered.

"We're gonna name her Juliet." He said and Alice raised an eyebrow.

"Juliet Jones?" She asked. Betty laughed softly.

"Yeah." She said. FP smiled.

"Well I like it." He said.

They spent the rest of breakfast talking about Polly and the twins, and Betty's baby. As they left her mom mentioned that she was going to get in touch with her lawyer when she got home and FP rode back to the trailer with them. Betty moved toward their bedroom and Jughead followed her. She heard FP flip the TV on in the living room as she sat on the bed and texted Veronica to bring them their homework at the end of the day and explained the situation. Jughead laid on the bed next to her and she smiled down at him before he took the phone out of her hand and pulled her down to lay next to him. 

He wrapped his arm around her and sighed contentedly and she smiled softly as she snuggled closer to him. His hand moved to rest against her belly which seemed to be his default position anytime she was within arms reach. She put her hand over his and moved to kiss him softly before she laid her head on his shoulder. She heard his breathing slow and knew he was close to sleep and she allowed her eyes to fall closed as her body relaxed into his. She was nearly asleep when he jolted suddenly and she sat up suddenly.

"What?!" She exclaimed. He was looking at her with wide eyes and he placed a hand on either side of her stomach and moved so that he was on his knees.

"I felt something." He said softly. They stared down at her belly until the movement happened again and she noticed it this time. It was a little nudge from inside her belly and he looked up at her astonished and she saw the tears in his eyes matching hers.

"She's moving." She breathed out quietly. He moved to place a kiss against her belly.

"Hi Baby." His voice was pitched low and she could hear the emotion bleeding through his words. She laughed softly and pulled him up into a kiss and he moved back to look in her eyes. "This is the most amazing thing I've ever seen."

"Me too." She said. They spent the rest of the morning talking to the baby and observing her movements until FP peeked into the room and informed them he was leaving for his shift. They said goodbye to him and moved to the living room to watch a movie. Betty made some popcorn and brought it in to the living room with her, Jughead pulled her close to him and Hotdog jumped up onto the couch to curl up next to them. She ran her hand through his fur as the beginning credits rolled across the screen. Halfway through the movie Betty grew bored and stood from the couch to retrieve the papers Weatherbee had given her to look over. Jughead glanced at them with a raised eyebrow but he didn't comment.

As she read through them she learned that she would have a teacher come out once every two weeks to check in with her and help with any questions she had about the material and she'd have access to an online program to keep track of her work, with the opportunity to finish sooner than usual. It would essentially be education lead by her, which didn't seem like such a bad idea, she just hated that she was only offered the option because they wanted her out of sight and off campus because of her pregnancy. She sighed as she leaned forward and dropped the papers on the table as she tried to focus back in on the movie playing in front of her. Jughead noticed her demeanor and moved to pause the movie.

"Are you okay?" He asked as he turned to her. "You know Weatherbee was just being an ass."

"I know but maybe he has a point." She said softly and turned to meet his eyes. "Not about me being a bad influence but about studying from home. I know that a lot of people use daycare and that's fine but it's also kind of expensive and we'll need to save all the money we can for her. Plus this program would allow me to finish early and from home so I could take care of her while also finishing school. I know my mom has already made a big deal out of getting a lawyer and everything, but I think that maybe we should just let this one go. If we make a big deal out of this them the whole town is going to be talking about it, not that I care what they think but why make a fuss when I have a better option in front of me." She said and Jughead studied her face before he turned to pick up the papers she had been reading to look them over.

"If that's what you want to do Betty, then I'm behind you, but you may not be able to retract your mother from her crusade. She seemed especially pissed." He said and Betty rolled her eyes.

"I'll deal with my mom." She said quietly. He bit his lip and she sighed as she studied his face. She knew him well enough that she knew he still had reservations about it. "What?"

"It's just...If you study from home, you won't have our friends around. I'm concerned that it might be isolating." He said with concern and she touched his face lightly.

"It's not like I'm moving to a cabin in the middle of the woods Jug. They can visit and you and FP are always here, I'll be fine." She said. 

"Okay, I'm with you." He said softly. She smiled and kissed him softly.

"Thank you for standing by me, I don't know what I'd do without you." She said.

"You'll never have to be." He answered.


	14. Chapter 14

It had been a few weeks since Betty had decided to study from home and things were going well. She had already finished her coursework for the week and it was only Wednesday so she had started taking extra shifts at Pop's during the week to save up a little more money before the baby came along and she'd have to take a few weeks off. As it was now though, she didn't have a shift so she had begun working on the next weeks course work when the boredom had become to much to handle. She stood by her choice to study from home but it was boring when FP was working and Jughead was at school, leaving her home alone. She had already cleaned the house and done all the laundry but it was still a few hours before either of them would get home, so the course work was good to keep her mind active and alert.

She had been stuck on a particularly hard math question for about ten minutes when a knock sounded at the door and she glanced at it for a moment in confusion before she stood and walked toward it to pull it open. Whatever she had been expecting at the other side of the door it certainly didn't involve Cheryl Blossom, but that was exactly who was standing on the porch which is why Betty stared like an idiot for a few seconds before she stepped to the side to allow her entrance. Cheryl walked in and stood with her back straight and a bag clutched in her hand and Betty closed the door as she studied her.

"Not to be rude, but what are you doing here Cheryl? Shouldn't you be at school?" She asked and Cheryl glanced at her with a strange look on her face before she stepped closer to her and held out the bag in her hand. Betty took it cautiously and looked at her in question.

"I brought you a gift for the baby, I heard you were having a girl." She said looking at her feet and Betty pulled the bag open and took out the contents, which happened to be a blanket in a soft pink color. As she examined it she found Jones embroidered on one corner and she looked up at Cheryl with surprise. "I assumed the baby would have his last name but I can get it changed if you want."

"No, it's lovely Cheryl. Thank you." Betty said as she ran her hand over the soft material. Cheryl gave her a small smile when she looked back at her. "Why are you being so nice?"

Cheryl bit her lip and her feet shifted against the carpet. "I meant what I said before, we're family, and I've learned that family is something that you should value while you have it because you never know what could happen, especially in a town like Riverdale. Polly left so I've never met the twins, they're the only part of Jason left in this world and she doesn't want any of us near them. Both of our families fell apart but I thought that maybe we could at least have a little bit of family in each other, if you're willing to try."

Betty studied her for a long moment, she was still looking at the floor and her shoulders were hunched as if she was waiting for rejection and Betty sighed before she laid the blanket on the table next to her school work and moved toward her slowly as to not startle her before she wrapped her arms around her. She heard her sharp intake of breath before her arms moved to return the embrace, and Betty thought that maybe she was right. They could be family for one another, and her heart opened a little to make room for the other girl. They stayed in the embrace for a few minutes and Betty was astonished to see tears on Cheryl's face when they separated and she moved to grab a tissue for her.

"Are you okay?" She asked quietly. Cheryl laughed softly the tears evident in the sound.

"I'm fine. It's just I expected to come here and be rejected, because that's what happens in my family but you just hugged me and didn't say anything horrible. I don't know why I'm getting so emotional just because you were nice to me." She said and Betty took her hand and met her eyes.

"You never have to be afraid of rejection with me Cheryl, or of showing your emotions. I would never use them against you even if I was angry. We don't have to be like the family we came from, we can be _better_ than them." She said and Cheryl gave her a real smile.

"I like the sound of that."

* * *

Cheryl had left as quickly as she had come but they had agreed to spend more time together and Betty was happy that she had seemed genuine in her desire to become closer, like an actual family. After she had left Betty had brought the blanket into the bedroom and placed it in the corner with the rest of the things she had already purchased for the baby. It was becoming a significant pile of clothes and other essentials which highlighted the fact that she and Jughead seriously needed to start buying furniture for the baby.

They had agreed to only purchase a crib and changing table along with a small dresser for the baby that they were going to set up in the corner of the room considering they lacked space for a proper nursery. Betty folded and stacked the clothing together in a small pile so that it wasn't so messy and would be easy to keep track of, then she moved back to the kitchen to put away her school work for they day hoping that when she came back to it tomorrow, the math problem wouldn't be seem so hatd to deal with. 

She had flipped on the TV for background noise and was curled up on the couch with a book when Jughead got home, she smiled at him before going back to her reading. She heard him moving around in the bedroom before he came back to the living room dressed more comfortably in sweats and a tank top. She moved her feet over allowing him room to sit on the couch next to her, and she threw the blanket covering her legs over him as he settled in. They sat together quietly with her reading and him watching the TV, it was comforting to be able to sit in total silence together and not feel the need to speak. After about an hour he shifted and she glanced up to see him already looking at her so she sat her book to the side and gave him her attention.

"Archie wants me to come over and help him with something." He said and she raised an eyebrow.

"Okay?" It came out as a question and he sighed.

"You've been here by yourself all day, I don't want to just leave again." He said softly and she gave him a smile before she moved to kiss his cheek softly.

"You don't have to ask permission to hang out with friends Jug, I don't mind. Besides I haven't been alone all day, Cheryl dropped by earlier." She said and he looked at her surprised.

"Cheryl? Why?" He asked. Betty shrugged lightly.

"She wants to make amends, and she is family so I thought that giving her a chance wouldn't be so bad." She explained. Jughead looked cautious but not disapproving.

"I guess that's not such a bad idea." He agreed before he stood and moved away from the couch back toward the bedroom and he came out again dressed as he was when he first got home and she looked at him in exasperation.

"If you knew you were leaving again why did you bather to change in the first place?' She asked and he shrugged.

"You looked so cozy that I didn't want to interrupt the vibe." He said and she rolled her eyes but had a fond look on her face. He came over and kissed her on the forehead before moving toward the door. "I love you."

"I love you too." She said.

After he left she texted Veronica to come over and spend some time with her while the guys were doing whatever it was that Archie had needed help with. Jughead had been right in one aspect, she had been alone for most of the day and was starting to go a little stir crazy in the trailer by herself. She didn't want to cut herself off from her friends either and she knew that was a big concern of Jughead's and her mother, she thought it might be the only time they had agreed on something since the day they met.

It didn't take long for Veronica to show up seeing as the drive from the other side of town wasn't monumental. When she stepped in Betty finally moved from her place on the couch, folding the blanket she had covering her legs neatly, and placing it back on the cushion. She hugged Veronica and guided her to sit at the table in the kitchen. She noticed her looking around and could tell by the look on her face that she wasn't exactly comfortable in the trailer but she smiled at Betty when she sat so so figured it couldn't be that bad.

"It's weird being here when Jughead and Mr. Jones aren't." Veronica said and Betty laughed softly.

"You get used to it." She said. Veronica raised an eyebrow at her.

"Well of course you're used to it, you've lived here for months." She said and Betty shrugged at her.

"It's home."

"I don't know how you do it."

"What?" Betty couldn't for the life of her figure out what Veronica was talking about as she watched her glance around the trailer again.

"I don't know how you can live in a place this small, with three people sharing space, soon to be four. Doesn't it get a little cramped?" She asked.

"Sometimes it does and we'll all get a little snippy with each other but then everyone takes a moment to themselves to cool off then we come back and everything's fine. It's not so bad living here, we're family and sometimes we fight, but we always make up. Plus I like when I wake up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom and I can hear them breathing, it makes me feel safe, knowing that they're there if something were to happen." She explained and Veronica gave her a disbelieving look. 

"I could never live with people that close." She said and Betty hummed softly.

"Well, don't take this the wrong way, but you've always had this privileged life where your family could afford to have separate rooms on opposite sides of a penthouse. That isn't how Jughead was raised, this is normal for him, it's the way it's always been and I don't mind taking a spot in this space. I don't mind having them so close, it's comforting." She said and Veronica seemed to be contemplating her words before she bit her lip.

"And are you going to bring the baby home here?" She asked and Betty gave her a confused look.

"Of course, where else would we go?" She said and Veronica shrugged.

"Your mom's maybe. It has more space." She said and Betty studied her face trying to gauge what this conversation was really about because it seemed to have taken a turn somewhere and she wasn't entirely sure what Veronica was trying to get at but she had an uncomfortable look on her face. Betty sat back in her chair with her arms crossed and stared at Veronica for a long moment before she spoke.

"This is a perfectly good place to raise a child Veronica. A lot of people on the south side raise their kids in trailers and they come out perfectly fine, Jughead was raised in this very trailer and he's fine. It may be small but the baby will be happy here." She snapped and Veronica gave her a look.

"The kids in the south side are fine? Most of them are in a gang right now, is that the kind of life you want for your kid?" She asked and Betty glared at her.

"The Serpents aren't bad people Ronnie. Kevin dated Joaquin and nothing bad happened, you've met some of the kids that are part of the gang so I know that you know they aren't that bad. It's all just north side bullshit spewed to make the south side look dangerous so they can further their agenda." She said as she stood from the table and moved away from Veronica to lean against the counter. 

She stared at Veronica with her arms crossed. Veronica seemed to be taking a few calming breaths before she looked up to meet Betty's eyes.

"You're right, I just want the baby to be safe, I want you to be safe." She said quietly and Betty huffed.

"I am safe V, and I'd never do anything to put my baby at risk. You have to trust me when I tell you that everything is fine, the south side may not be the Pembrooke but it's home. I'd rather raise my child in the south side where everyone tells the truth and displays their lives honestly than the north side where everyone hides behind facades while doing the worst things behind closed door. I need you to respect my decision, it's my life and my baby." She said.

"I get it B. I'm sorry, I won't bring it up again." She said and Betty nodded.

Veronica stayed for a while longer but they couldn't get past the weirdness that surrounded them after their conversation, so Betty decided that maybe a little time away from each other to digest the words they'd spoken to one another would help ease the tension. They said goodbye in their typical way, with hugs and promises to text but the words spoken hung between them.

 

 


	15. Chapter 15

Saturday found Betty and Jughead at the mall in Greendale. They only had a few weeks left until the baby was due so they had decided to buy the crib and changing table, since Betty had ordered a small dresser online that FP and Jughead had spent the morning assembling. Betty had folded the clothes they had already bought and put them away when they were finished, and they already had a stockpile of diapers hidden away in the bottom of their closet so the crib and changing table were the last bits they'd need for her imminent arrival. They had been walking around the store they were in for only a few moments, looking for a crib that they both liked that fit within their budget. Jughead turned to her as they searched.

"You seem quiet, are you okay?" He asked and she gave him a small smile.

"I'm fine, just Veronica and I had a disagreement." She said. 

"About what?" He asked as they moved down the aisle and she shrugged as she kept her eyes on the cribs in front of her.

"It doesn't matter." She answered softly as she reached out to run her hand along the bars of the display crib in front of them. He touched her arm lightly and turned her to face him, with his hands resting gently against her arms.

"It matters if it makes you feel bad." He said. She glanced down at her hands biting her lip in frustration.

"It's just something she said..." She sighed. "She doesn't think I should raise the baby in the southside."

His shoulders tensed and when she glanced up at him he had a look of disappointment on his face. "Do you agree with her?"

"Absolutely not. I love the southside, and the trailer, it's home. I told her that but she basically said that she thought it was a bad place to raise a baby." Betty said quietly. "She and I have been texting but it's awkward now, both of us avoiding mentioning the southside. I told her that it was my decision and she seemed to understand but I don't know how to talk to her now."

"Give her time, she'll come around." He said gently. 

"How do you know?" She asked and he gave her a gentle smile before he leaned in to kiss her softly.

"She's your best friend Betty, she's not going to let something like this change that." He said before turning her back to the displays. "Now let's chose a crib for our daughter so that she doesn't end up sleeping in the bed with us."

She laughed softly before moving to look at the rest of the cribs. The store wasn't massive and only had a small selection to choose from but they finally settled on a simple white crib and the matching changing table. After they payed for them Jughead brought the truck to the front of the building and the workers loaded the boxes onto the back of it, and they started on their way home. They stopped at a drive-through to get a couple of slushies because Betty was craving one before continuing on their way. It only took an hour to get back to the trailer and FP grumbled about having to assemble more furniture but he smiled at her so she knew he wasn't that bothered by it.

She reclined on the bed working on some school work to get a jump start on the next week even though she was already two courses ahead of the regular school, and watched as they put together the crib and changing table. It took them another hour to get it all together and she directed them where to put them from the bed. They were pushed into the corner of the room with a small walkway between their bed and the crib, so that they would be able to walk passed the crib without bumping it but it would still be easy for them to get to the baby if she cried in the night. FP left the room but Jughead moved to pull out the wooden letters he had bought earlier in the day. They were a soft pink color and he hung them on the wall above the crib spelling out Juliet. Betty smiled at him and got up from the bed to join him nest to the crib.

"Can you believe she'll be laying there soon?" She asked running her hand over her stomach. He pulled her in pressing his chest to her back and moving his hand over her own caressing her belly.

"Are you scared?" He asked softly.

"Terrified." She answered her voice just as soft before a smile crossed her lips. "But you'll be here, so I know we can do it. We make a great team."

"Yeah, we do." He said and laid a gentle kiss on her shoulder. She stayed in that position for a long moment, imagining what it would be like when they had their daughter to look down at, before she turned to him.

"I got you a surprise, it's mainly for the baby but I thought you'd like it." She said before she moved away from him and pulled a box out of the closet. She motioned him over as she sat on the end of the bed and he moved to sit next to her. She placed the box in his lap with a smile. 

"Should I be afraid?" He asked teasingly and she laughed while shaking her head.

"Open it!" She said in excitement. He raised an eyebrow at her but pulled the package open and pulled the paper back to reveal the soft grey piece of cloth in the box. He picked it up in his hands and looked at her on astonishment. She took it out of his hands. "It's a crown beanie, to match your. I ordered it specially for her."

"Why?" He asked but she could tell he liked it.

"I thought it would be cute, plus maybe she'll turn out like you." She said quietly.

"Would you want that?" He asked and she studied his face for a moment before she shrugged.

"Why not? Your intelligent and you stand up for what you believe in. It wouldn't be a terrible thing if she took after you in that regard." She said.

"Well, I hope she has your optimism, she'll need it growing up in this town." He said. Betty looked at them.

"I think she'll have all of it, a mixture of us, isn't that the point?" She said softly. 

"Whatever she gets from either of us, it doesn't really matter, she'll be perfect." He said and Betty grinned at him.

"Look at you, already becoming the mushy father, she's going to hate that in about ten years." She said and he laughed.

"And I'll love every minute of embarrassing her." He said and Betty laughed along with him. They calmed down after a few minutes and she met his eyes as her hand rested low on her stomach.

"You're gonna be a really good dad." She said softly. "I'm glad I ended up with you."

"I'm glad too, and don't give me all the credit, you're going to make a fantastic mother." He said. She moved to kiss him softly.

Betty couldn't imagine having this life with anyone else, once upon a time she had imagined it with Archie, except they would have been older and married but she had realized that the crush she had on him was just a little girls crush that had carried over. She didn't actually like him in that way and they never would have worked out, but with Jughead, it felt right and she was so glad that fate had brought them together again after they had drifted apart as children.


	16. Chapter 16

Jughead had invited Archie and Veronica over to the trailer and urged Betty to make peace with her so they were sitting together in the living room. FP had gone to work a shift so they were alone but regardless of having no parental supervision they weren't doing anything nefarious, instead they were curled up on the floor watching movies. There had been an awkward tension between all of them at first and she had the feeling that Veronica had also told Archie about their argument, but as the movie started playing they relaxed around each other marginally until it felt normal between them but Betty could still feel the unspoken word hanging heavily over them.

She cleared her throat and stood to move into the kitchen to grab a drink before rejoining everyone on the floor. Her movement seemed to break the easy truce between them because Veronica grabbed the remote and paused the movie causing everyone to look at her, but she was looking at Betty when she turned her head and their eyes met.

"I wanted to apologize Betty." She said softly and Betty sat up from where she had been leaning against Jughead. Both the boys were looking back and forth between them like it was a ping pong match and she hadn't even spoken yet.

"It's okay V, I know that you didn't mean anything by it." She said and Veronica sat up on her knees.

"I know that the southside is your home now, and it's where you want to raise the baby, and I respect that. I never should have inserted my own opinion into your situation." She said and Betty smiled at her.

"I know you care about me Veronica, I know that it was coming from a place of love." She said and moved to pull her into a hug. Veronica returned it quickly and when they moved back she stood and pulled Betty to her feet prompting the boys to join them.

"I also got you a surprise, well it's actually for both of you, really." She said and Betty gave her a smile.

"You didn't have to get us anything." She said. 

"I don't mind." Veronica said before she went to her bag and pulled out a folder. She bounced back over to Betty and placed it into her hands prompting her to open it. She flipped it open and stared at the papers inside and the smile left her face as she looked at Veronica with wide eyes.

"We can't take this!" She exclaimed.

"What is it?" Jughead asked from over her shoulder. Veronica smiled at both of them.

"It's a trailer, here on the southside. It's got two bedrooms, perfect for you guys, and it's all paid for." She said happily while Betty stared at her in disbelief.

"Why the hell would you do that?!" Jughead exclaimed from behind her and Betty shoved the folder back into her hands.

"We already have a home Veronica." She said.

"A place you share with his father. There isn't enough room. I thought you would be happy about this, it's still in the southside." She said and Betty scoffed.

"That's not the point!" She shouted. Jughead moved up beside her and she put a hand on his arm, she didn't think he'd do anything but she knew he was pissed.

"We don't need your charity, nor did we ask for it." He said, practically vibrating with anger.

"She was trying to do something nice." Archie said from beside her and Betty whipped her head around to look at him.

"This isn't nice, she crossed a line." She snapped.

"Jesus, you can pay me back." Veronica said with her arms crossed clutching the folder in her hand.

"The money isn't the point Veronica." Jughead said. "It's the fact that you looked at our life from the outside and decided that you thought it wasn't good enough, so you did what your family is known for and threw money at the problem as if that would fix it. We're perfectly happy with what we've got, why can't you just accept that?"

He spun on his heal and left the room, the bedroom door slamming echoed through the trailer and she turned back to look at them. Archie had his hand on Veronica's shoulder as if he was lending her comfort and Betty glared at them.

"I was only trying to help." Veronica said and Betty scoffed.

"This isn't helping Veronica. You bought a trailer that we'll never be able to pay you back for, and you didn't even consult us first. I told you that I'm happy here, with FP and Jughead, just because it isn't the life you would want doesn't mean I need you to come in and fix it, it wasn't broken in the first place." Betty said looking at both of them in turn. "I think you should leave."

She pulled the door open and waited for them to leave before she closed it firmly and moved down the hallway to the bedroom. She opened the door cautiously to find Jughead staring at the ceiling from his spot on the bed, the redness high in his cheeks showcasing his anger. She moved toward the bed and sat on the edge next to him, he didn't look at her but he took her hand in his own and brought it up to his lips before pulling her down next to him on the bed.

She curled into his side and pressed her ear to his chest listening to his steady heartbeat. His hand moved to run through her hair and she sighed contentedly against him.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have gotten so angry." He said softly and she shook her head as she traced patterns into his chest with her finger.

"It's okay, I get why you were angry, she overstepped." She said. 

"She acted like everyone on the north side, judging our lives and thinking that having a trailer is going to make everything better, as if we won't still have to work and pay for utilities and things they never think of like property taxes and food. She's like a lot of northsiders, they have bills slid across their tables and they pay them without even thinking because they don't have to calculate how much they can spend and still be able to put food on the table. They've never had to go through that, so they think just providing something like this will solve all out problems." He said and she sighed.

"I'm a northsider." She reminded him. He moved so that he could look her in the eye.

"You're different, you've never acted like you think your better than the people from the southside. You've never put us down just because we happen to reside on the wrong side of the tracks. You're not like most northsiders." He said and she kissed him softly. When they moved away from each other she pushed him back down on the bed and snuggled into his side.

"Let's just take a nap and forget about all of this for a while." She said. He kissed the top of her head before wrapping his arms around her.

"I can get behind that idea." He said softly.


	17. Chapter 17

It had been a few days since the argument and Betty could see FP side eyeing them since they had told him what had happened and he hadn't brought it up with them again but she knew it was only a matter of time. She was proven right when he called them to the table and looked at them with his hands folded in front of his mouth. They both stayed silent as he stared and he sighed and moved his hands to rest on the table.

"We should talk about this." He said. Jughead rolled his eyes and Betty leaned back into her chair with her arms crossed and resting on her stomach.

"Why? We aren't going to take the trailer, she'll just have to sell it." Jughead said and FP's eyes flickered between them before he leaned forward on his elbows.

"Look I know that you want to do this on your own, but there's no shame in accepting help from friends when they offer it." He said. Jughead scoffed and shook his head as he stood from the chair and moved to lean against the sink.

"Help is offering to babysit, not buying a house we'll never be able to pay for." He snapped. FP leaned back in his chair and shrugged.

"Veronica was raised in a very different family than either of you, maybe this is the only way she knows to help." He said and Betty sighed as she looked over her shoulder at Jughead before meeting FP's eyes.

"She was way out of line offering us something like this, we could never accept it, it would feel like we owed her for the rest of our lives, like she bought us." She said. FP looked at both of them for a long moment before he shook his head.

"She's your friend, she'd never hold this against you." He said.

"Maybe not, but we'd know, we'd always remember that the only reason we had the trailer was her. It would feel like a debt." Jughead said moving to stand behind her. She reached her hand up to place it on top of the hand he'd laid on her shoulder.

"Well then maybe you need to swallow your pride." FP said quietly. "She was right when she said this trailer is a little cramped, I'd never ask you to leave and if you want to stay I have no problem with that, but you would have more room in the other trailer. The baby would have a nursery. Just think about it."

He stood and moved toward the door and ducked out of it quickly. She heard his bike start up and pull away and she sighed before Jughead moved back into the seat he had vacated during their discussion. It was quiet between them as they both thought over what FP had said and Betty had to admit that he had a point, there would be more room for the baby and for them, but she still felt like it was too much to accept from a friend. Jughead pulled off his beanie and tossed it onto the table in front of them while running his hands through his hair and blowing out a breath.

"I hate accepting things from people." He said quietly. She took his hand and squeezed it where it rested on the table and he looked up and met her eyes. "There's always a chance they're going to want you to pay it back somehow. I hate being in someone's debt."

"Your father was right, this is Veronica we're talking about, she's our friend. She may be prissy and entitled but she's also a good person, she'd never expect us to pay her back." She said.

"She may not always be our friend. What if something happens down the line, and we aren't friends anymore? She'll expect us to pay it back and we don't have that kind of money." He said. She moved to cup his face in her hands and she forced him to met her eyes.

"We can't think like that. She's our friend and she was trying to help, she even bought a place on the southside so we'd be more comfortable. This would be good for our daughter, we should at least look at it before we refuse it." She said softly. His eyes drifted to her stomach and he placed his hand against it gently as he sighed.

"You're right. It would be good for our daughter, and she's all that matters right now, not my pride." He said before looking up at her. "We can look at it."

* * *

Betty had sent Archie a text asking if he could get the keys from Veronica and allow them to take a look because she wasn't ready to face Veronica herself yet. Archie agreed to meet them that afternoon and they brought FP and Alice along with them to look at it. Archie was waiting for them on the porch and unlocked the doors when they walked up the steps. 

They stepped inside and Betty glanced around, she could already tell that it was bigger than the trailer they currently lived in with FP and had obviously been updated as well. The floors were hardwood throughout the entire living room and kitchen. The cabinets were polished wood and the counter was a lighter wood with a double sink. She moved toward the hallway she saw leading to the rest of the rooms and Jughead followed behind her. The first door in the hallway ended up leading to the bathroom, which had a white tiled floor. It wasn't massive but it was a decent size considering they were in a trailer. She pulled the door closed and continued down the hall, on the left was a second door and when she opened it it lead to a bedroom. 

The bedroom had a light grey carpet on the floor that looked soft and fluffy. There was a window directly across from the door covered by thin white curtains, and Betty moved to the closet which had a sliding door on it. She slid it open and was presented with a decent sized closet with storage space in the top and she looked around the room trying to imagine where things would be placed if they were to move in. She imagined she'd put the crib across from the closet and get different curtains for the window but they didn't really have much in decoration because there wasn't much space for it in their current trailer.

She moved past Jughead next to the door and back into the hallway to continue their tour. FP and Alice had apparently stayed in the living room with Archie as they checked it out because she heard them speaking quietly. The last door was located at the very end of the hallway and opened up into what was obviously meant to be the master bedroom given the size of it. To her surprise when she opened the closet door it happened to be a walk in. She wasn't even sure if they both had enough clothes to fill it but she pushed that thought out of her mind as she turned to look at Jughead.

"What do you think?" She asked. He looked around the room before his eyes landed on her.

"Well she was right, it does have more space, which means it was probably more expensive." He said quietly and she moved to stand next to him.

"I think we should take it." She said quietly. He turned to look at her and she saw the indecision on his face and she gave him a smile. "I didn't say we'd take it for free, we can set up a payment plan with Veronica. I know you don't like owing people anything, this way we'll at least be paying it off. This will be good for us."

"Okay." He said quietly and she looked up at him.

"Okay?" She asked. He nodded and placed his hand on her belly.

"For Juliet." He said softly and she smiled and went on her tip toes to kiss him softly.

 


	18. Chapter 18

They met with Veronica a few days later and Betty decided that it was best to meet on neutral grounds so she set up the meeting at Pop's directly after her and Jughead's shift. They were sitting across from her and Archie in the booth and a tense silence lingered between them. Betty sighed and cleared her throat bringing all three sets of eyes to her face.

"Can we all acknowledge that this is awkward an move on." She said. They all stared at her for a long moment before Veronica leaned forward onto the table.

"I've been thinking these last couple of days about what you both said to me and I wanted to apologize. You were right, I overstepped my bounds but I never meant to make you feel like I disapproved of your life or your situation, I know that you were fine where you were, I just thought that maybe you'd like a little more space for yourselves. I should have come to you first instead of blindsiding you, I was wrong." She said. Betty bit her lip as she took in her face. She could tell that Veronica truly meant what she was saying.

"You were trying to be nice, we get that, but you have to understand how it made us feel." Jughead said quietly. "It made us feel like you felt sorry for us, and I'm not really good at accepting help, even from friends."

"I _am_ sorry." Veronica said looking and her hands clasped on the table.

"I know." Jughead answered. Betty took his hand on the table before she looked at Veronica.

"Jug and I went to look at the trailer you bought and we like it." She said and Veronica smiled at her. "But we want to pay you back."

"You don't have to do that." Veronica said quietly.

"Yes we do. I need you to let us do this V." Betty said meeting her eyes. They stared at each other for a moment before Archie touched Veronica's arm lightly and she broke her gaze to glance at him.

"Maybe you should accept this, it'll make everyone here feel better. There's no harm in it." He said quietly and Veronica nodded before looking back at them.

"Okay, we'll set up a payment plan." She said.

"Thank you." Jughead said. 

They lapsed back into silence for a moment until Archie moved to look at each of them in turn. "Cm'on guys, everyone's apologized and made peace. We're all still friends, lets put this behind us and order some fries."

They all turn to stare at him with varying amounts of disbelief on their faces and Jughead was the first to start laughing at the earnest look on Archie's face prompting Betty and Veronica to join. Once they had calmed down Jughead ordered fries for everyone and a round of milkshakes, and as the night fell outside it was almost like there had been no fight between them at all. Betty was transported back to the first time they had shared a booth and milkshakes, it seemed like so long ago and so much had happened since that night and they had each changed but they still managed to keep their friendship strong. They may fight but they would always end up right back here together.

* * *

The next morning dawned bright and early sending FP to work and Jughead to school, leaving Betty alone in the trailer. She figured she could take the day off form school work considering she was already ahead to start packing up things to take with them to the new trailer. FP had brought them boxes the night before when they had returned home and she made a joke about him wanting them out so quickly so he could have his room back. He had retaliated by spraying her with the sink hose saying he'd told them he'd get them when they least expected it.

She sat the box on the bed and began taking things out of the drawers and placing them in the box already folded. It didn't take her long to empty the drawers that held her and Jughead's clothes and she labeled the boxes with a permanent marker before moving on to the closet. She pulled things off the hangers and folded them as she threw them into the box. She took a break after an hour to stretch her back before moving on to the baby's things. She pulled the clothing out of the drawers that she had only recently placed into them and put them in a box.

When most of their clothing was packed away she shoved the boxes into the corner of the room and pulled the boxes of diapers out of the bottom of the closet and stacked them next to the other boxes. She knew that FP, Jughead and Archie were going after school today to get furniture for the trailer and move it in. At this rate they'd be moved in by the end of the week and she was excited to have their own space. She loved FP and he was truly like a father to her but she would be glad to have a space for her and Jughead, and she was sure FP was eager to have a bedroom again and stop having to sleep on the pull out couch.

She laid down on the bed slightly out of breath after packing for a couple of hours, and her back was aching from having to carry around the extra weight from the baby. She would honestly be glad in a couple of weeks when the baby was born and she would be relieved of the back pain. She grabbed the pillow from the top of the bed and placed it under her stomach as she turned to her side and her eyes grew heavy as she drifted off to sleep easily.

 


	19. Chapter 19

The next few days were spent doing school work in the mornings then moving things when everyone got off of school. Archie mentioning that he was so glad the school year was over in a week, causing Veronica to roll her eyes behind him and comment that the only thing they were doing in school at the moment was watching movies because everyone had finished their finals already. Betty had already started on the course work for senior year a few weeks back but agreed to take the summer off with them, especially considering that she would be adjusting to life with the baby in the beginning of the summer. She spent most of the time moving, pouting in a chair while everyone carried things into the trailer around her given that they all refused to let her lift anything heaver that a book. 

Boxes were stacked into the rooms based on their labels and she was currently in the nursery with FP, who was complaining about having to rebuild the crib because they'd had to take it apart to fit it through the door of the old trailer and she was hiding her giggles as she unpacked the clothes into the already reassembled dresser in the corner. Archie and Jughead had already replaced the curtains on the window with light grey ones that had mint green ruffles on the bottom of them. She had them stack the boxes of diapers in the closet and she took a few out to put in the top drawer of the changing table next to the wipes and diaper rash cream before closing it. She rubbed the small of her back to relieve the aching as she made her way back into the kitchen to see if there was anything for her to do but everyone seemed to have gotten everything into the house.

She made her way to the master bedroom where she found Archie and Jughead building the bed frame. The mattress and box spring was leaned against the wall and she raised an eyebrow at them.

"You guys have been in here over an hour already and you haven't got this fixed yet?" She asked with a grin. Archie glared at her.

"You try putting this stupid thing together, I swear the instructions don't make any fucking sense." He said. She snorted.

"Right, you two are being defeated by a bed frame. Got it." She said and he rolled his eyes. Jughead seemed to be studying her posture, her hand still pressed against her aching back.

"Are you alright?" He asked. She gave him a smile as she ran her other hand over her belly.

"I'm fine, the baby's just a bit heavy." She said. "It'll get better after she makes her appearance in a couple of weeks."

"Are you sure?" He asked and seemed ready to stand and come over to her but she nodded.

"I'm sure, do you know where Veronica and my mother have disappeared to?" She asked. 

"I think they're outside." He said and she turned to leave but stopped to look over her shoulder with a grin.

"Good luck." She said sarcastically and Archie's eyes snapped to her and he looked ready to flip the frame across the room. She laughed as she continued down the hall and outside. Her mom and Veronica were leaning against FP's truck and she moved to join them.

"What are you guys doing out here?" She asked. Veronica rolled her eyes.

"There is so much testosterone in that house right now, they all think they don't need instructions then get angry when they can't build it." She said and Betty laughed.

"Archie said the instructions didn't make sense." She said and Veronica scoffed.

"I bet he just glanced at them then tossed the paper somewhere and now can;t find it. Men." She said. Alice pushed away from the truck to look at them.

"We should go and pick up something for everyone to eat, in my experience men are much happier when they're not hungry." She said.

"You're probably right." Betty said before she ducked back into the house and informed the boys where they were going. 

Veronica called ahead to Pop's and made the order and her mom whipped out her card before either of them could offer to pay when they entered the diner. It seemed pretty busy but Pop's was happily moving around and taking orders. It occured to her that he was taking orders because he had given her, FP and Jughead the day off so that they could get moved and she felt a little bad for him but he didn't seem to mind as he smiled at her and asked about the move. They made small talk until the order was ready and he handed it over to them with well wishes.

When they got back into the car Betty shifted uncomfortably as the pain in her back escalated. She found herself hoping that Archie and Jughead had finished setting up the bed so she could lay down for a bit to help alleviate the strain on her back. The ride back seemed to take longer than the ride to the diner, and when her mom finally pulled up to the trailer she got out of the car eagerly, but was left breathless for a moment as the pain in her back seemed to escalte and move around to her lower stomach as she gripped the car door tightly. Veronica looked at her in concern and moved toward her.

"Are you okay?" She asked. The pain faded after a moment and she nodded at Veronica.

"I think I just need to lay down for a while, it's been a long day." She said and Veronica nodded but kept her eye on her as they moved toward the house together. Her mother had already gone ahead and when they stepped into the trailer, the boys were sitting at the table as Alice handed out burgers. Betty looked at Archie and Jughead.

"Did you manage to get that bed frame fixed?" She asked.

"Finally." Archie grumbled. Betty nodded and started toward the hallway.

"Are you not going to eat Elizabeth?" Her mom asjed and she shrugged.

"Thought I'd try out the bed, make sure it isn't going to fall apart when I try to lay on it." She said.

"Very funny." Archie said and she grinned at him.

"I thought so." She said before looking at her mother. "It's been a long day, I'm just going to lay down for a bit. Save my food and I'll eat later."

She made her way back to the bedroom and laid down on the freshly made bed. She breathed deeply as the tension in her back released but she still felt a dull aching pain in her lower back. As she laid there she felt the pain radiate around to her stomach but the pains were far apart and she didn't want to admit what she thought was happening. Her heart was racing and panicked thoughts were flying around her head but when a particularly painful contraction came over her she whimpered and pulled her self off the bed. 

She knew she had been in the bedroom for at least an hour but when she opened the door she could still her the voices chattering in the kitchen so she knew everyone was still here. She stumbled down the hallway and into the kitchen and everyone's eyes were on her immediately. She looked up and her eyes met Jughead's.

"I think I need to go to the hospital." She said quietly but she knew he heard because he was on his feet and at her side in the space of a few seconds.

"What's wrong?" He asked as he wrapped an arm around her waist.

"I'm pretty sure I'm in labor." She said and her mom came to her other side.

"It's too early!" Jughead exclaimed with panic in his voice and her mom's eyes snapped to him.

"It's only a couple of weeks until her due date, it's fine. Snap out of it, we need to get going." She snapped and began pulling them toward the door. Jughead nodded and quickly snatched his keys off the counter before leaving the trailer and helping Betty into the truck. He climbed in and Betty faintly heard her mother tell him they'd follow them before the doors slammed and he spun out of the driveway and speed toward the hospital. 

A contraction rolled over her and she whimpered and moved her hand to rub against her lower belly as if that would help with the pain. Jughead glanced at her but she glared at him as a reminder to keep his eyes on the road and he nodded as if answering a question. They made it to the hospital in record time and he parked haphazardly in a parking spot before he jumped out and rushed around to her side to help her out of the truck before they made their way inside. She pulled him to the maternity ward and signed in, everything happened quickly after that and before long she was in a room and hooked up to a monitor to keep track of the babies heartbeat and her contractions.

The nurse told them she would call the doctor to come check on her before she left the room. Jughead was pacing at the foot of her bed with his beanie in one hand and his other running through his hair nervously. She watched him for a few minutes before she held her hand out and he came over to take it. She smiled up at him while rubbing her thumb across the back of his hand.

"Calm down, you're making me nervous." She said. 

"You're not already?" He asked.

"More than you know, but being nervous isn't going to help anyone. She's coming whether we're ready or not." She said softly. He nodded and took a deep breath.

"You're right, we both need to just calm down. We've read the books, everything's prepared to bring her home, we've got this." He said, but his tone implied he was trying to convince himself rather than her. She squeezed his hand in hers.

"We've got this." She said.

The doctor chose that moment to enter and she smiled at both of them before she checked the monitor and moved over to check Betty's dilation. She lifted the edge of the blanket as not to expose her to the room even though they were the only ones currently in it. It didn't take long for her to check and she pulled her gloves off and threw them away before picking up the clip board she had brought in with her and handing it to Betty.

"These are forms you need to fill out consenting to treatment. At the moment you are seven centimeters dilated so I'll check back in thirty minutes which I expect will be long enough for you to be fully dilated at the rate your going." She said. Betty looked at her with wide eyes.

"Already? I just stated having contractions, I thought labor was supposed to last longer." She said the words coming quickly. The doctor gave her a gentle smile.

"You've probably been in labor all day, the harder contractions you've been experiencing usually come toward the end. It happens, some women deliver faster than others, it's not uncommon for labor to happen this quickly." She said before looking at both of them. "Relax, you can do this." 

She left the room and Betty closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths to calm herself before she began filling out the forms in front of her. She had to stop every few minutes as the contractions gripped her but she breathed through them and Jughead held her hand, allowing her to squeeze hard and not once complaining even though she knew she saw him wince a few times but she finally got the forms done and sat them on the bedside table next to her until someone came to collect them.


	20. Chapter 20

The doctor kept her word and came back almost exactly thirty minutes later, she checked Betty again and nodded to herself before calling in a team of nurses who set up a bassinet in the corner of the room with a set of medical instruments around it and she assumed that was where the baby would be checked out after she was born. The doctor brought a rolling stool over to the end of the bad and told Betty to scoot down to the end, which she did quickly. She was seriously regreting her choice of no drugs at this moment but it was too late to do anything about it now. The nurses came over and moved the bed until the end dropped down and stirrups came out to the either side.

"Are you sure it's time?" She asked and the doctor laughed quietly as she looked at her.

"Yes, I'm sure." She said. "It's going to be okay Betty, your body knows what to do, just listen to it."

She rolled the blanket up and pushed the gown up to her hips and Betty was sure she had never been so exposed before but she put it out of her mind and reached for Jughead's hand, which he gave freely. She looked up and met his eyes.

"I'm right here with you Betts, I'm not going anywhere. You can do this." He said and she nodded as she took a couple of deep breaths and turned back to the doctor.

"I'm ready." She said.

"Good, because on your next contraction I'm going to need you to start pushing." She said and Betty nodded. Jughead squeezed her hand lightly and she took the comfort as she felt the next contraction come and she bared down to push. She blocked out everything except thoughts of her daughter and after the contraction was over she took a moment to breathe before the next one and she began pushing again. She was breathing heavily after thirty minutes of pushing and sweat was rolling down her face but the doctor was smiling at her encouragingly. "Just one more Betty. You can do this."

Betty pulled every bit of strength she had left and threw it all into the next round of pushes, she felt a burning pain before a great release and then the best sound she had ever heard came. Her daughter was crying and she felt the tears fall from her own eyes as she was laid in her arms wrapped in a blanket. The moment she looked down at her daughter everything faded away, she no longer felt the pain that she had endured to bring her into this world, it was nothing when she looked down at her and brushed her finger across her soft cheek. Jughead appeared next to her at the side of the bed and he too was crying silently but like her he had a big smile on his face as he looked down at their daughter. Her brushed his hand against her arm and kissed her softly on the head. Betty smiled at him and he gave her a kiss as well.

"Little Juliet." He said softly.

"She's more amazing than I ever imagined." She said.

The nurse came and took her to be checked out but it didn't take long before she was being placed back into Betty's arms with a clean bill of health. The doctor finished up and removed the plastic that had been placed underneath her to keep the bed clean she she was now wearing underwear that felt more like a diaper but she couldn't bring herself to care as she looked down at the baby in her arms now swaddled happily in a soft pink blanket. The nurses righted her gown and blanket before leaving them in the room alone with the baby. They spent the next thirty minutes just admiring their daughter before Betty turned to look at him.

"Everyone's probably in the waiting room if you wanted to bring them in." She said quietly. He nodded before placing a kiss on the top of her head and doing the same to Juliet before moving toward the door. He wasn't gone long before they were all tumbling into the room someone seemingly have called Cheryl to inform her as she was part of the group. Betty motioned FP over and placed the baby into his arms, he had been the one who had supported them from the beginning with absolutely no judgement.

Everyone crowded around him to get a look at the baby but Jughead came to her side as they both watched their friends and family coo over the baby. A nurse entered the room shortly after while Juliet was still being passed around with another stack of paper to fill out,concerning the baby. Her birth certificate was included in the stack to be filled out and signed as well as an application for her social security number, Betty sat up in the bed and began filling out the papers which took her half an hour to complete before setting them to the side.

Everyone had had a chance to hold the baby so she had Jughead bring her back over to her. She had opened her eyes and Betty could see that they were a bright blue to match Jughead's but she knew that it could change in the next few months but tiny tufts of hair she had were dark and Betty was sure they'd stay that way as she grew. Truthfully looking down at her daughter she thought that she looked much more like Jughead than she did her but she didn't mind. She smiled up at him and he moved to kiss her on the forehead before he sat in the chair next to the bed.

Their friends and family spent a few hours with them before leaving them alone with their brand new baby and as much as Betty loved them all she was grateful when they left because she was tired after having just given birth. She handed Juliet to Jughead to lay her down in the bassinet next to the bed before he moved to turn out the lights. The hospital staff had set up a small cot next to the bed for Jughead to sleep on, the room was quiet with only the sounds of each of them moving to get comfortable until it went silent.

"Goodnight." Betty whispered.

"Good night." Jughead answered back. "I love you."

"I love you too." Betty said. She drifted off to sleep with a soft smile on her face.

* * *

The next morning dawned bright and early with the sound of a baby's cries filling the air. Betty jerked awake, a little disoriented with her surroundings for a moment before she sat up on her bed to see Jughead with Juliet already in his arms. His hair was sticking up everywhere indicating he had just rolled out of bed to attend to their daughter and it made Betty smile looking at him. She reached out for the baby and unsnapped her gown before helping Juliet latch on like the lactation specialist had showed her the night before. 

Jughead ran his hands over his face before stretching and letting out a yawn. Betty felt as if they had just laid down to sleep before they were jolted awake again but looking down at her daughter she couldn't really complain. Juliet was finishing up her feeding when the doctor entered and gave them a bright smile.

"Good morning!" She chirped. Betty and Jughead both grumbled back greetings causing her to laugh. "Long night?"

"Juliet actually slept until just a few minutes ago, but our families were a little over excited about the baby." Betty said as she wiped excess milk off Juliet's chin and re-snapped her gown.

"Well I'm glad you got some rest at least, you're gonna need it." She said as she moved around the bed and come over to Betty's side. "I just wanted to check in with you today, make sure everything was okay."

"I'm okay." Betty said.

"No complaints?" She asked.

"Nope, I feel fine. Nothing I didn't expect after giving birth." She said and the doctor smiled and made a note in the chart.

"That's good, both of you have a clean bill of health." She said.

"Does that mean we can go home?" Betty asked. The doctor gave her a smile.

"I'm afraid not, we like to have first time mothers stay at least two days just in case, so you'll most likely go home the day after tomorrow if everything goes smoothly." She said and Betty sighed.

"I guess I can deal with that." She said before looking at Jughead. "Plus it'll give us time to get the final parts of the move over with."

"I'll call my dad and have him finish everything." Jughead said and she nodded. 

"I'll come back to see you once more before you leave." The doctor said before leaving the room. Jughead stood from the cot he was sitting on and grabbed a comb to run through his hair quickly before pulling his beanie over it. 

"I'm gonna go pick us up some breakfast." He said and she nodded. He leaned over and kissed her before dropping a kiss on the top of Juliet's head. As he made his way to the door she called after him.

"Make sure to get some hash browns. I'm starving." She said and he spun to her and playfully bowed.

"As you command my lady." He said and she rolled her eyes.

"Oh go on, you dork." She said. His laughter floated back to her as he left and she smiled. She looked down at the baby in her arms and moved to sit up completely and lay her onto the bed. She was swaddled tightly in a blanket with a little hat on her head and she was staring up at Betty with her bright blue eyes, so she smiled down at her.

"That's your daddy, he's a little dorky but I know you'll love him." She said gently. "He's the one who picked your name, Juliet. I think it fits you perfectly, a little princess." 

She spent the next little while playing with Juliet and talking to her until Jughead came back in with a take out bag and the smells coming from it made her stomach rumble. She moved to place Juliet into her bassinet while Jughead pulled out the food and they started eating. She was too busy shoveling food into her mouth to notice Jughead's staring at first. When she looked over at him he seemed deep in thought as she sat her sandwich down on the wrapper laying on the bed, and she cleared her throat.

"What?" She asked. He shook himself like he was coming out of his thoughts and his eyes drifted to meet hers and there was a serious look in them.

"Marry me." His voice came out soft but sure and her eyes went wide.

"What?" She surely didn't hear him correctly.

"Marry me Betty." He said again and she stared at him for a long moment.

"Are you serious?" She asked and he pushed his food to the side and came to the side of her bed where he sat at the edge and took her hand.

"I love you Betty, and we live together and have a baby, it's not that much of a leap to get married and I _want_ to marry you." He took her hand and brought it up to his lips before meeting her eyes again. "I know I don't have a ring and I didn't make some grand gesture but, what do you say? Do you want to spend the rest of our lives together?"

She studied his face for a long moment taking in his earnest expression and the hope she could see shining in his eyes and there was only one answer she could give him in that moment.

"I'd like nothing more than to spend the rest of my life with you, Jughead Jones."

 


End file.
